ministrator for a specified period in a place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted or at such other place or places designated by the Administrator, or he may require notice to be given in such other manner as he deems appropriate.

(e) The amounts paid to individual employees are determined in accordance with a definite formula or method of calculation specified in the plan or trust. The formula or method of calculation may be based on any one or more or more of such factors as straight-time earnings, total earnings, base rate of pay of the employee, straight-time hours or total hours worked by employees, or length of service, or distribution may be made on a per capita basis.

(f) An employee's total share determined in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section may not be diminished because of any other remuneration received by him.

(g) Provision is made either for payment to the individual employees of their respective shares of profits within a reasonable period after the determination of the amount of profits to be distributed, or for the irrevocable deposit by the employer of his employees' distributive shares of profits with a trustee for deferred distribution to such employees of their respective shares after a stated period of time or upon the occurrence of appropriate contingencies specified in the plan or trust: Provided, however, That the right of an employee to receive his share is not made dependent upon his continuing in the employ of the employer after the period for which the determination of profits has been

made.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 12150122)

[18 FR 3292, June 10, 1953, as amended at 47 FR 145, Jan. 5, 1982]

$549.2 Disqualifying provisions.

No plan or trust which contains any one of the following provisions shall be deemed to meet the requirements of a bona fide profit-sharing plan or trust under section 7(e)(3)(b) of the Act:

(a) If the share of any individual employee is determined in substance on the basis of attendance, quality or quantity of work, rate of production, or efficiency;

(b) If the amount to be paid periodically by the employer into the fund or trust to be distributed to the employees is a fixed sum;

(c) If periodic payments of minimum amounts to the employees are guaranteed by the employer;

(d) If any individual employee's share, by the terms of the plan or trust, is set at a predetermined fixed sum or is so limited as to provide in effect for the payment of a fixed sum, or is limited to or set at a predetermined specified rate per hour or other unit of work or worktime;

(e) If the employer's contributions or allocations to the fund or trust to be distributed to the employees are based on factors other than profits such as hours of work, production, efficiency, sales or savings in cost.

§ 549.3 Distinction between plan and trust. As used in this part:

(a) Profit-sharing plan means any such program or arrangement as qualifies hereunder which provides for the distribution by the employer to his employees of their respective shares of profits;

(b) Profit-sharing trust means any such program or arrangement as qualifies under this part which provides for the irrevocable deposit by the employer of his employees' distributive shares of profits with a trustee for deferred distribution to such employees of their respective shares.

§ 549.4 Petition for amendment of regulations.

Any person wishing a revision of any of the terms of the foregoing regulations in this part may submit in writing to the Administrator a petition setting forth the changes desired and the reasons for proposing them. If, upon inspection of the petition, the Administrator believes that reasonable cause for amendment of the regulations in this part is set forth, the Administrator will either schedule a hearing with due notice to interested parties, or will

make other provision for affording interested parties an opportunity to present their views in support of or in opposition to the proposed changes.

PART 550-DEFINING AND DELIMITING THE TERM "TALENT FEES"

Sec.

550.1 "Talent fees" as used in section 7(e)(3)(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended.

550.2 Definitions.

550.3

Petition for amendment of regula

tions. AUTHORITY: Sec. 7, 52 Stat. 1063, as amended; 29 U.S.C. 207.

§ 550.1 "Talent fees" as used in section 7(e)(3)(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended.

The term talent fees in section 7(e)(3)(c) of the Act shall mean extra payments made to performers, including announcers on radio and television programs, where the payment is made:

(a) To an employee having regular duties as a staff performer (including announcers), as an extra payment for services as a performer on a particular commercial program or a particular series of commercial programs (including commercial spot announcements) or for special services as a performer on a particular sustaining program or a particular series of sustaining programs;

(b) In pursuance of an applicable employment agreement or understanding or an applicable collective bargaining agreement in a specific amount agreed upon in advance of the performance of the services or special services for which the extra payment is made: Provided, however, That where services described in paragraph (a) of this section are performed on a program falling outside of the regular workday or workweek as established and scheduled in good faith in accordance with the provisions of the applicable employment agreement, the Administrator will not regard the Act as requiring additional compensation as a result of the time worked on the program if the parties agree in advance of such program that a special payment made therefor shall include any increased statutory compensation attrib

As used in the regulations in this part:

(a) The term extra payment shall mean a payment, in a specific amount, made in addition to the straight-time and overtime compensation which would be due the performer under the agreement applicable to his employment and under the Act if the time spent in performing the services or special services referred to in paragraph (a) of § 550.1 had been devoted exclusively to duties as a staff performer; but shall not include any pay. ment any part of which is credited or offset against any remuneration otherwise payable to the performer under any contract or statutory provision;

(b) The term performer shall mean a person who performs a distinctive, personalized service as a part of an actual broadcast or telecast including an actor, singer, dancer, musician, comedian, or any person who entertains, affords amusement to, or occupies the interest of a radio or television audience by acting, singing, dancing, reading, narrating, performing feats of skill, or announcing, or describing or relating facts, events and other matters of interest, and who actively participates in such capacity in the actual presentation of a radio or television program. It shall not include such persons as script writers, stand-ins, or directors who are neither seen nor heard by the radio or television audience; nor shall it include persons who participate in the broadcast or telecast purely as technicians such as engineers, electricians and stage hands;

(c) The term special services shall mean services beyond the scope of a performer's regular or ordinary duties

as a staff performer under the agreement applicable to the employment. [15 FR 402, Jan. 25, 1950]

§ 550.3 Petition for amendment of regulations.

Any person wishing a revision of any of the terms of the foregoing regulations may submit in writing to the Administrator a petition setting forth the changes desired and the reasons for proposing them. If, upon inspection of the petition, the Administrator believes

that reasonable cause for amendment of the regulations is set forth, the Administrator will either schedule a hearing with due notice to interested parties, or will make other provisions for affording interested parties an opportunity to present their views, either in support of or in opposition to the proposed change.

[15 FR 402, Jan. 25, 1950]

such plan has the general purpose and effect of reducing hours worked by such employees to, or below, the maximum workweek applicable to them under section 7(a). Under this provision, an employee employed and compensated as described in the quoted paragraph (11) may be employed without payment of overtime compensation for a workweek longer than the maximum workweek applicable to him under section 7(a) of the Act, but only if it is established by a finding of the Secretary that the employee is compensated for his employment as a driver or driver's helper making local deliveries on the basis of trip rates or other delivery payment plan that has the general purpose and effect stated in section 13(b)(11). Such a finding is prescribed by the statute as one of the "explicit prerequisites to exemption". (See Arnold v. Kanowsky, 361 U.S. 388, 392.)

8 551.2 Findings authorized by this part.

(a) The Administrator, pursuant to the authority vested in him by the Secretary of Labor, will make and apply findings under section 13(b)(11) of the Act as provided in this part. Such findings shall be made only upon petitions meeting the requirements of this part, and only as authorized in this section.

(b) For the purpose of establishing whether a wage payment plan has the purpose and effect required by section 13(b)(11) for an exemption from the overtime provisions of the Act, the Administrator shall have authority, upon a proper showing and in accordance with the provisions of this part, to make a finding as to the general purpose and effect of any specific plan of compensation on the basis of trip rates or other delivery payment plan, with respect to the reduction of the length of the workweeks worked by the employees of any specific employer who are compensated in accordance with such plan for their employment by such employer as drivers or drivers' helpers making local deliveries.

(c) Any finding made as to the purpose and effect of such a wage payment plan pursuant to a petition therefor will be based upon a consideration of all relevant facts shown or

represented to exist with respect to such plan that are made available to the Administrator. A finding that such plan has the general effect of reducing the hours worked by drivers or drivers' helpers compensated thereunder to, or below, the maximum workweek applicable to them under section 7(a) of the Act is not authorized under this part unless the Administrator finds that during the most recently completed representative period of one year (based on the experience of the employer in question, or if such employer has not previously used such plan, on the experience of another employer using such plan under substantially the same conditions, all as defined in § 551.8(g)(1)), the average weekly hours, taken in the aggregate, of all full-time employees covered by the plan are not in excess of the maximum workweek applicable to such employees under section 7(a), or unless the Administrator makes an interim finding with respect to such plan that, notwithstanding a lack of experience under it for a representative period of 1 year, its provisions and manner of operation, together with the other available information concerning the plan, indicate clearly that by the end of such first representative year the effect of the plan will have been to reduce the average weekly hours worked by the employees covered by the plan in such first year of operation to, or below, such maximum applicable workweek.

§ 551.3 Petition for a finding.

Any employer desiring to establish an exemption from the overtime pay requirements of the Act with respect to employees whose employment and compensation may be considered to qualify therefor under section 13(b)(11) may petition the Administrator, in writing, for a finding under such section and this part. If the wage payment plan with respect to which the finding is sought has been the subject of collective bargaining with representatives of employees covered by the plan, the employer shall provide timely notice of such petition, in writing, to the authorized representatives or representatives of such employees

and shall submit a copy of such notice to the Administrator.

§ 551.4 Requirements for petition.

A petition for a finding under section 13(b)(11) of the Act and this part shall include in such detail as the Administrator may deem necessary for evaluation under the standards provided by the statute and this part, all the information required by § 551.5. Such information may be presented in any form convenient to the petitioner; no particular form is prescribed for the petition. The petition shall also include, by attachment, a copy of any collective bargaining agreement or other document governing the method of payment for the work of employees covered by the wage payment plan with respect to which a finding is requested. The petition, together with any such documents, shall be filed with the Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, United States Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20210.

§ 551.5 Information to be submitted.

Every petition filed under §§ 551.3 and 551.4 shall contain the following information:

(a) A full statement of the facts relied upon by the petitioner to establish, under the applicable definitions in § 551.8, that the wage payment plan submitted for consideration: (1) Applies to employees employed (i) as drivers or drivers' helpers, or both, (ii) in "making local deliveries” and (2) determines, "on the basis of trip rates or other delivery payment plan", the compensation which such employees receive for such employment; and

(b) A complete description of the wage payment plan and full information concerning its application showing, among other things: (1) The method of compensation which it provides and the types of payments made to employees covered by the plan, together with such information as may be necessary to show how these payments are computed and how and to what extent they are actually used in determining the total compensation received by employees covered by the plan, (2) a full description of all duties performed by the employees compen

sated under the plan, including information as to the types of goods delivered, their points of origin and destination and the purposes for and geographical area within which they are transported by the employees, the relationship of the employer to the consignor and consignee, and the numbers, (minimum, maximum, and average or typical) of round trips made by such employees in transporting such goods during the workday and of deliveries made during each such trip, and (3) other relevant information concerning the employees compensated under the plan including the total number of such employees employed full-time as drivers or drivers' helpers making local deliveries under the provisions of the plan during the most recent representative annual period as defined in § 551.8(g)(1), the weekly hours worked and the average workweek of such employees during such period and, if there are any significant variations in the number of such employees so employed in the particular workweeks within the period, a full statement of the facts concerning such variations, information as to any workweeks in which any employees compensated under the plan devote less than eighty percent of their worktime to duties as drivers or drivers' helpers making local deliveries; and

(c) A statement of the facts and reasons based on the history and application of the plan which are relied upon to support a finding that the plan has the general purpose and effect of reducing the hours worked by drivers or drivers' helpers covered by its provisions to, or below, the statutory maximum workweek applicable to them under the Act.

§ 551.6 Action on petition.

(a) Upon the filing of a petition as provided in this part, the Administrator will give consideration thereto, and make any further inquiry into the facts that he may deem necessary. The Administrator may require, before taking further action thereof, that notice of the petition be given to affected employees in such manner as he shall determine to be appropriate to afford them an opportunity to submit any facts or reasons supporting

or opposing the finding prayed for in the petition. If the Administrator determines that the petition fails to satisfy any of the requirements of this part, he shall deny the request for a finding or, in his discretion, advise petitioners that further consideration will be given to the submission if the deficiencies are remedied within a specified time. No further consideration will be given, however, to a request for a finding if the Administrator determines that the factual situation as described in the petition is not one in which authority to make the finding is provided by section 13(b)(11) and this part.

(b) If the Administrator determines that a petition meets all requirements of this part and if he is satisfied from consideration of all relevant facts and information available to him that the wage payment plan submitted has, within the meaning of section 13(b)(11) of the Act and this part, the general purpose and effect with respect to drivers or drivers' helpers making local deliveries, who are employed pursuant to its provisions on the basis of trip rates or other delivery payment plan, of reducing the hours worked by such employees to, or below, the maximum workweek applicable to them under section 7(a) of the Act, the Administrator will make an appropriate finding to this effect, and notify the petitioner; otherwise the request for such a finding will be denied. § 551.7 Finding.

(a) A finding by the Administrator under paragraph (b) of § 551.6 that a wage payment plan has the purpose and effect required for exemption of employees under section 13(b)(11) and this part shall be effective in accordance with its terms upon notification to petitioners as provided in § 551.6(b). The finding shall include such terms and conditions and such limitations with respect to its application as the Administrator shall deem necessary to ensure that no exemption will be based thereon in the event of any significant change in any of the essential supporting facts.

(b) A finding made pursuant to this part may be amended or revoked by