US top court rules for Glaxo on overtime pay

WASHINGTON, June 19: The US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that pharmaceutical companies do not have to pay overtime to their representatives who visit doctors� offices to promote their products, a dispute that had threatened the industry with billions of dollars in potential liability. By a 5-4 vote, the high court handed a defeat to two former sales representatives for a unit of Britain�s GlaxoSmithKline Plc. They had appealed a US appeals court in California ruling that they were �outside sales� personnel exempt from federal overtime pay requirements. (agencies)