outside sales exemption
The duty is the sale, away from the desk.
Knockdesk is field sales software for teams that sell in person. The outside sales exemption is the FLSA test on DOL Fact Sheet 17F: the primary duty must be making sales, or obtaining orders or contracts for services or for the use of facilities, and the employee must be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place of business. The salary requirements of that regulation do not apply. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Book a Walkthrough| Test | What Fact Sheet 17F says |
|---|---|
| Primary duty | Making sales as the FLSA defines sales, or obtaining orders or contracts for services or for the use of facilities for which a client or customer will pay. |
| Away from the employer's place of business | Customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place or places of business. Door-to-door sales at the customer's home count as away. |
| Salary test | The salary requirements of the regulation do not apply to the outside sales exemption. |
| Outside sales minimum wage and overtime | Section 13(a)(1) can exempt qualifying outside sales employees from both federal minimum wage and overtime pay. |
| What does not count as away | Sales made by mail, telephone, or the internet do not count, unless that contact is only an adjunct to personal calls. A fixed home or office used as a headquarters is treated as the employer's place of business. |
The tests
What the outside sales exemption flsa page actually asks
Managers open the outside sales exemption flsa fact sheet when a title on a badge is not enough. Primary duty means the principal, main, major, or most important duty, judged from the job as a whole. Customarily and regularly means greater than occasional but less than constant, including work that is normally done every workweek.
Making sales
Sales include a sale, exchange, contract to sell, consignment for sale, shipment for sale, or other disposition, including transfer of title to tangible property.
Orders and contracts
Obtaining orders for services, or for the use of facilities, can qualify. The service may be performed later by someone other than the person who took the order.
Promotion work
Promotion incidental to the employee's own outside sales is exempt work. Promotion incidental to sales made by someone else is not exempt outside sales work.
The week
The test stalls when the visit never hits the pin
Owners still ask are outside sales reps exempt from overtime when the badge says outside sales. That is a duties question. A Friday chat that says they were in the field does not show the sale, the door, or the hours at a fixed desk. Outside sales minimum wage sits on the same Fact Sheet 17F exemption. If the visit, the clock, and the turf live in three places, counsel is reading a story instead of a log.
The sale
The fact sheet asks whether making sales is the primary duty. A knock without an outcome on the pin does not show that duty.
Away from the office
Door-to-door at the customer's home counts as away. A headquarters used for phone solicitation does not.
The clock
The exemption has no salary test. The shift still has to show where the hours were, if you need that fact later.
The walkthrough
How the team clocks time and logs the visit
Knockdesk does not decide FLSA status. The walkthrough is the shift and the pin, so the duty is a visit you can open, not a memory.
- 1The rep turns Active on with location. Clock-in fails if GPS is off. That is the GPS clock, not a timesheet typed on Friday.
- 2They start a route or a knock. Auto-Clock can start the shift on a route or a knock when those settings are on.
- 3At the door they Start Knock or Log visit, pick an outcome, and complete the visit on the pin.
- 4Do-not-contact stays on the pin with Mark DNC, so the next loop does not treat that house as a sale.
- 5The manager reads the field log: who was at which address, and what outcome landed.
The desk
See the field, not a reconstructed week
The sample rows on this page, 418 Oak Ave and 90 Pine Ct, are a fixture, not a customer day. Full desk is the only Knockdesk plan. It is Full desk. A free trial is not open.
Field activity
Sample
Today · North ridge
- 418 Oak AveMaya Chen · 2:14 PMAppointment
- 22 Harbor RdJordan Hale · 2:41 PMNot home
- 90 Pine CtAlicia Brooks · 3:05 PMCallback
The statute
Open the Wage and Hour pages
The table above is a reading of those pages. It is not a ruling on your crew.
- DOL Fact Sheet 17F
Outside sales duties, away from the employer's place of business, and no salary test.
- DOL Fact Sheet 17G
Salary basis rules, and the line that those salary requirements do not apply to outside sales employees.
Related
Keep going from here
- Door to door sales laws
The hub for permits, consent, cooling-off, this exemption, 1099 versus W-2, no-knock lists, and the 2026 mileage rate.
- Knockdesk pricing
Full desk is on the pricing page.
- 1099 versus W-2 sales reps
The tax classification question. It is not the same test as this exemption.
- No-knock registry
City lists you can open, then the do-not-contact pin.
- IRS mileage rate 2026
The published business cents per mile for the year.
- Field sales time tracking
The GPS clock and shift states that sit next to the visit.
- How the GPS clock works
Active, location required, then clock-out.
- How do-not-contact pins work
Mark DNC so the next turf loop skips that porch.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the outside sales exemption?
It is the FLSA exemption on DOL Fact Sheet 17F. Primary duty must be making sales, or obtaining orders or contracts, and the employee must be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place of business. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Are outside sales reps exempt from overtime?
They can be, if both duties tests on Fact Sheet 17F are met. Job titles do not decide it. Knockdesk does not classify your crew.
Is there a salary test for outside sales?
No. Fact Sheet 17F says the salary requirements of the regulation do not apply to the outside sales exemption. Fact Sheet 17G repeats that those salary requirements do not apply to outside sales employees.
Does the outside sales exemption cover outside sales minimum wage?
Fact Sheet 17F describes an exemption from both federal minimum wage and overtime pay for qualifying outside sales employees.
Does door-to-door count as away from the office?
Fact Sheet 17F says an outside sales employee makes sales at the customer's place of business, or, if selling door-to-door, at the customer's home.
How much does Knockdesk cost?
Full desk is on the pricing page. A free trial is not open.
The duty
Bring the shift that never hit the pin.
We will clock one rep in, complete one visit, and show the field log. Full desk is on the pricing page. This page is general information, not legal advice. A free trial is not open.
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