In the recent movie, “Love and Other Drugs,” the lead character Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) gets a job as a pharmaceutical sales representative (PSR). At a family dinner, Gyllenhaal’s messy, overweight, but very business-savvy brother, played by Josh Gad, explains the appeal of his brother’s job to their parents. As Gad explains to them, PSR positions are the only entry-level jobs in America that can pay “a hundred grand a year.” (And there was no mention of overtime pay in the movie dialogue!)
Under this comic setup lurks a serious and complex wage-and-hour issue that has produced a dramatic conflict in the courts. In cases filed all over the nation, PSRs have argued that their positions are nonexempt, the claimed exemptions do not withstand analysis, and they should be paid by the hour for the long hours worked. The drug companies have argued that, consistent with decades of such treatment, the PSRs are exempt from the overtime pay laws pursuant to the outside sales and/or administrative exemptions.
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