Employer On The Hook For Worker’s Anger Management?

In some cases, employee-mandated anger management counseling sessions can be considered compensable “hours worked” under the Fair Labor Standards Act, writes Ruder Ware attorney Bryan T. Symes, looking to a Seventh Circuit precedent. An employee who had been required to attend psychotherapy as a condition of continued employment eventually quit and sued, claiming she should have been paid for her time at the sessions, along with the two hour round-trip commute. The employer balked, arguing that medical treatment always benefits the person who receives it. Though the court agreed with the worker, it also noted that, “[b]y no means does our ruling mean that every time an employer gets help for its employees, the employee must be compensated for hours worked,” so future questions must be considered on a case-by-case basis, Symes says.