A former police dispatcher who was ordered to engage in stress-related counseling by her employer is entitled to overtime pay for the time she spent in the sessions and in commuting to and from them, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled December 27, 2005 (Sehie v. Aurora, 7th Cir., No. 04-2308, 12/27/05).

Kari Sehie was required to submit to a fitness-for-duty evaluation as a result of leaving work due to stress. The physician who performed the evaluation said she was fit for duty but recommended that as a condition of continuing her job, she attend weekly psychotherapy sessions for six months. After six months, the situation would be re-evaluated, the physician said.

The city adopted the physician's suggestions, but refused Sehie's request to continue seeing her own therapist. Instead, for five months, Sehie attended 16 sessions with a therapist recommended by the city, spending an hour at each session, and two hours traveling back and forth to the sessions. She worked 40 or more hours per week during the weeks in which she attended the sessions and was not paid for any of the time connected to going to the sessions.

Sehie voluntarily resigned from her job in June. She sued the city under the Fair Labor Standards Act and a district court ruled that the sessions were compensable. Sehie was awarded about $3,000 in back pay and damage. The city appealed to the Seventh Circuit.

The Seventh Circuit ruled that since the counseling benefited the city, Sehie was entitled to compensation under the FLSA.

The court rejected as "too rigid" the employer's interpretation that FLSA regulations imply that an employee who receives treatment for a work-related injury can receive compensation only if the treatment is required by the employer and it occurred during the employee's scheduled hours of work.