New York Employers Are Not Required to Compensate Employees for Time at Alcohol Counseling and Treatment Sessions

In Gibbs v. City of New York, the New York Federal Court has found that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require employers to pay their employees for attending mandatory alcohol counseling and treatment sessions to keep their jobs. The case involved two New York Police Department employees that sued the police department claiming that they were not paid overtime for time spent at mandatory alcohol counseling and treatment to keep their job.

Under the FLSA, employers must compensate for time spent engaging in an activity that is “controlled or required by the employer and pursued necessarily and primarily for the benefit of the employer and his business.” Using the Portal-to-Portal Act, the court determined that the New York Police Department is not required to compensate an employee for activities which are preliminary to or postliminary to said principal activity or activities. The employer did not benefit from rehabilitating employees whose employment might have been terminated prematurely. Instead, the court found that the employees benefited from the counseling sessions, as the counseling sessions helped the employees keep their existing level of on-duty performance. This court decision will continue to give employers an incentive to help their employees seek treatment before they face disciplinary action, including termination.