Brokerage houses and financial services companies that use unpaid trainee brokers to make cold calls are, more often than not, in violation of minimum wage requirements as stated in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In many cases, brokerage houses hold out the possibility of eventual full-time employment if an unpaid trainee broker completes an unpaid training program during which time he or she makes a certain quota of sales. In some cases, however, there is no promise of full-time employment, regardless of how many sales a trainee broker may successfully close. As a result, a trainee broker works for free, helping a brokerage house or company sell financial products for the alleged privilege of “learning the business” in the process.

At the New York brokers’ rights law offices of Leeds Brown Law and Virginia & Ambinder, we recover wages, compensation, and overtime pay for unpaid trainee brokers exploited by brokerage houses and firms.

The FLSA, Minimum Wage, and Unpaid Trainee Brokers

Unpaid trainee brokers are eligible to receive minimum wages under the terms of 29 U.S.C. §206 and §207. Each of these sections pertains to minimum wages and maximum hours worked requirements respectively. In many cases, brokerage firms and financial services companies require trainees to work in the office a certain number of hours each week in order to make cold calls to prospective individual investors. Here, trainees and the work they perform, meet the requirements of the terms of 29 U.S.C. §206. Consequently, unpaid trainee brokers are owed a minimum wage, regardless of whether or not they are provided with a small weekly stipend.

The FLSA, Overtime Pay, and Unpaid Trainee Brokers

Many unpaid trainee brokers work anywhere from 50 to 90 hours a week and are expected to attend training sessions, whenever they might be scheduled. Under the terms of the FLSA, non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay for any scheduled work that exceeds forty hours a week. As a result, any hours worked over and above a trainee’s forty hours must be paid at time and a half. This means if the minimum wage is $8.00 and hour, any time worked in excess of a forty hour week would be paid at time and a half – that is, $8.00 + $4.00 or, $12.00 an hour.

Contact New York Brokers’ Rights Attorneys

You may not even be aware you are owed money for your time as an unpaid trainee broker. Too often, small brokerage houses don’t bother to inform trainee brokers of their rights or provide false information regarding compensation requirements on the part of employers. For more information regarding your rights and how we can help you recover compensation for your time as a trainee broker, contact New York brokers’ rights lawyers at Leeds Brown Law and Virginia & Ambinder today.