Are Pharma Sales Reps Entitled to Overtime Pay?

By Kerri A. Wright

U.S. Supreme Court grants certiorari to end circuit split. Are pharmaceutical sales representatives covered by the “outside sales” exemption under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act? For decades the pharmaceutical industry has been left without any clear guidance in answering this question.The wider implication, of course, is that, without any guidance, pharmaceutical companies have been left to determine on their own whether thousands of “sales reps” across the country are entitled to overtime compensation.