Commission or Not Commission?

[EarthMother01]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Wisconsin

Not sure where this question belongs, but here is but one issue I'm chewing on.

My employer advertises on the website that the sales staff is non-commissioned, but we are in fact commissioned sales staff. We provide sales of specialty medical equipment.

I am on the job 60 days and have emails that are dated only 3 days ago which state a sales quota to earn commission where my understanding at hire was commission on every dollar sold.

1) Is there anything I can use to claim mis-representation of the compensation to regain my UI should I quit?

2) Is it common business practice to advertise to the consumer that sales staff is non-commission when they in fact are commissioned?

 

[pattytx]

1. Only if you have a bona fide contract.
2. Probably not. However, a statement on a website does not constitute a contractual obligation.

 

[commentator]

You left your unemployment insurance to accept the job fully understanding that the job was straight commission, right? If they have misrepresented it to you, had told you it was straight commission, and now when you are there, you discover it is changing to commission only after a sales quota is met, and they now start paying you this way only, you can probably quit and go for your unemployment insurance at once and have a pretty fair chance of getting back on your benefits.

Make sure you are being paid this way starting now. Do keep careful calculations of what you make with this new structure. If you are actually not making any money, if your commissions are significantly less than what you were led to believe, and by working at this job, you are worse off than when you were drawing unemployment, then you may be able to quit the job and be re-instated for benefits. It's hard to call this. What they told you when you were hired, though you may not have had a contract, will have bearing in the decision to re-instate benefits. Remember the unemployment office is really not in the business of getting you into any job, even one that does not pay you a living wage. They do not, by mission, ask you to worsen your circumstances, make less than you would make while receiving unemployment benefits.

There are many places like this who really do prey on the unemployed. They will get you into commission sales with an offer of a beginning salary and potential for great earnings. (Or a management job, out of sales, after you have gotten some "experience.") Check it out. If there are almost no jobs listed in the "help wanted" parts of the paper, or on the computer lists, and this one is "Hiring! Hiring! Hiring!" its probably not a good or valid job. Remember, in hard times when people are financially stressed, they rarely buy commission things like pre-paid funeral arrangements or life insurance or new vacuum cleaning systems or cookware.

Then it switches to commission only, and you have already sold whatever the product is to all your contacts in business, family members, friends, etc. So then you are forced to quit the job, because you are no longer making enough money to make it worth your time to go to work. And it's tricky (though not impossible) to get your unemployment reinstated.