(a) Where the prize is awarded for activities outside the customary
working hours of the employee, beyond the scope of his customary duties
or away from the employer's premises, the question of whether the
compensation is remuneration for employment will depend on such factors
as the amount of time, if any, spent by the employee in competing, the
relationship between the contest activities and the usual work of the
employee, whether the competition involves work usually performed by
other employees for employers, whether an employee is specifically urged
to participate or led to believe that he will not merit promotion or
advancement unless he participates.
(b) By way of example, a prize paid for work performed in obtaining
new business for an employer would be regarded as remuneration for
employment. Although the duties of the employees who participate in the
contest may not normally encompass this type of work, it is work of a
kind normally performed by salesmen for their employers, and the time
spent by the employee in competing for such a prize (whether
successfully or not) is working time and must be counted as such in
determining overtime compensation due under the Act. On the other hand a
prize or bonus paid to an employee when a sale is made by the company's
sales representative to a person whom he recommended as a good sales
prospect would not be regarded as compensation for services if in fact
the prize-winner performed no work in securing the name of the sales
prospect and spent no time on the matter for the company in any way.
