Leveling The Playing Field For Commissioned Salespersons

Even the most successful salesperson can encounter difficulty in collecting commissions to which he or she is entitled.

When this happens, the sales professional’s employer is vulnerable to legal action. In Los Angeles, the employment law attorney who seeks to level the playing field for you is Jeremy Golan, experienced founder of Golan Law, P.C., law firm.

Golan Law, P.C. has aggressively and successfully sought justice for commissioned salesperson clients throughout Southern California for many years. Attorney Golan knows when sales commissions are justified, knows about unlawful deductions from a commission and generally advocates for all clients whose rights have been violated in the marketplace. Best of all, he knows how to get results.

The Commission Collection And Employment Lawyer You Can Trust

The life of a salesperson is a difficult one. A salesperson works industriously for days and nights to develop good relationships with potential customers. The salesperson must convince a prospective customer that the product or service will be beneficial.

However, what is usually the fate of these hard-earned relationships when you leave the job or the employer wrongfully terminates you? What will happen if your replacement makes full use of those relationships without doing any hard work? Will you surrender your commissions despite the fact that you meet all the requirements to receive that commission?

Understanding California’s Commission Pay Laws (Labor Code Section 2751)

California gives commissioned salespersons some of the strongest legal protections in the country, and for good reason. Salespeople put in the work, build the relationships and close the deals. The law recognizes that and requires employers to honor those contributions with transparency and accountability from the very beginning of the employment relationship.

California Labor Code Section 2751 makes that requirement concrete. Before a commissioned employee starts work, the employer must provide a written agreement that spells out exactly how commissions will be calculated and paid. Both parties sign it, and the employee keeps a copy. There is no room under this law for handshake deals or vague promises about how commissions will be handled down the road.

A proper written commission agreement needs to address several specifics:

• The commission rate or percentage that applies to each category of sale or transaction
• The precise moment a commission is considered earned, whether that is at signing, at payment or at delivery
• How cancellations, returns or chargebacks affect commissions that have already been earned
• The timing and method by which commissions will actually be paid out

That level of detail is not bureaucratic formality. It is what prevents an employer from moving the goalposts after a salesperson has already done the work. Without it, disputes become word against word, and that is rarely a fair fight.

When an employer skips the written agreement entirely but keeps paying a salesperson on commission, the law does not let them off the hook. Courts in California have consistently found that employers who ignore Labor Code Section 2751 face real consequences, including liability for unpaid commissions and exposure to additional penalties under California wage and hour law.

Unfortunately, these violations happen regularly, and many salespeople never pursue them because they do not know what the law actually requires. If your employer never put the commission arrangement in writing, changed the structure after a sale was already made, took deductions that were never disclosed or held back commissions when your employment ended, those are not just frustrating outcomes. They may be legal violations that entitle you to recover what you were never paid.

Attorney Golan has been fighting these battles for commissioned employees in Los Angeles and across Southern California for years. As a Los Angeles commission attorney who understands how California commission pay laws work and how employers try to avoid them, he knows what it takes to build a strong claim and push for the recovery his clients deserve.

Let Us Serve You

Get answers to these questions and learn more about the many ways that attorney Golan can help you – by contacting Golan Law, P.C., for a free initial consultation. Call today: 310-904-6783. Your email message will be responded to promptly.