Required Mental Health Treatments

HR questions

As a result of certain undesirable behaviors, we are requiring a non-exempt employee to attend mental health treatments (anger management) as a condition of his employment. These treatments/sessions take place after the employee's normal working hours.
Does anyone have an opinion as to whether or not the time spent in the sessions is "hours worked?" What about the travel time?

To add a layer of complexity, what if the company requires, as a condition of employment, the employee to comply with the recommendations of his therapist? If the therapist says that the employee should attend AA meetings three times a week, is all of the time spent in AA sessions hours worked? What about the travel time? What if the therapist says that the employee needs regular physical exercise? Are workouts then hours worked? Help!

Rockie

My best guess would be if it was a "condition of employment" that it would be compensable. Our EAP program is voluntary, so employees do not get compensated for their time, although we do pay 5 therapy sessions for them.

As far as the therapist's recommendations, I don't know how you would know this as therapists are covered by confidentiality and cannot reveal anything about their patients.

Margaret Morford

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 07-01-02 AT 04:53PM (CST)[/font][p]If the employee was at the point where you said we are going to fire you unless you attend anger management classes, I don't think that you have to pay him/her. It is a condition of remaining employed. He/she has a choice to do it or not do it. The therapist should be able to tell you that the employee is attending their therapy sessions or the meetings mandated by the anger management program. I'd get the employee to sign a waiver for that information only. Assure the employee that this is all the information you are seeking. You are only asking the therapist to verify that he/she is in the program and cooperating (making scheduled meetings, whatever the therapist determines those meetings need to be).

The employee also needs to understand that even if they are in the program and cooperating, any reoccurance of angry/violent behavior will lead to immediate termination.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]