Another salvo in the sales-rep overtime fight: A Takeda Pharmaceutical salesperson has sued the drugmaker, aiming to prod the company into coughing up overtime pay. It's the tenth court challenge, by BNet Pharma's count, to companies that classify reps as exempt from OT.
Drugmakers say that reps are bonafide sales people and autonomous enough to qualify as management workers. Sales folks from Novartis, Merck, AstraZeneca and now Takeda take issue with those assumptions. So far, courts have come down on both sides of the issue.
The Takeda suit questions salespeople's autonomy on the job: Sales rep Beth Jones claims that she and her fellow reps are micromanaged, and that company policies force them to work overtime. Jones is seeking class-action status for her suit. Takeda hasn't yet filed a response.
- read the BNet piece