(a) In determining for purposes of section 7(i) whether more than
half of an employee's compensation ``represents commissions on goods or
services'' it is necessary first to total all compensation paid to or on
behalf of the employee as remuneration for his employment during the
period. All such compensation in whatever form or by whatever method
paid should be included, whether calculated on a time, piece, incentive
or other basis, and amounts representing any board, lodging or other
facilities furnished should be included in addition to cash payments, to
the extent required by section 3(m) of the Act and part 531 of this
chapter. Payments excludable from the employee's ``regular rate'' under
section 7(e) may be excluded from this computation if, but only if, they
are payments of a kind not made as compensation for his employment
during the period. (See part 778 of this chapter.)
(b) In computing the employee's total compensation for the
representative period it will in many instances become clear whether
more than half of it represents commissions. Where this is not clear, it
will be necessary to identify and total all portions of the compensation
which represent commissions on the goods or services that the retail or
service establishment sells. In determining what compensation
``represents commissions on goods or services'' it is clear that any
portion of the compensation paid, as a weekly, biweekly, semimonthly,
monthly, or other periodic salary, or as an hourly or daily rate of pay,
does not ``represent commissions'' paid to the employee. On the other
hand, it is equally clear that an employee paid entirely by commissions
on the goods or services which the retail or service establishment sells
will, in any representative period which may be chosen, satisfy the
requirement that more than half of his compensation represents
commissions. The same will be true of an employee receiving both salary
and commission payments whose commissions always exceed the salary. If,
on the other hand, the commissions paid to an employee receiving a
salary are always a minor part of his total compensation it is clear
that he will not qualify for the exemption provided by section 7(i).
