Training repayment agreement provisions (TRAPs),are a new form of “stay-or-pay” contract that indebts employees to their bosses. Often inserted into contracts without workers’ knowledge, these restrictive labor covenants turn employer-sponsored job training and education programs into conditional loans that must be paid back — sometimes at a premium — if employees leave before a set date.
Employers argue that these clauses are a way to recoup their investment in employees who decide to leave the company prematurely. But these contracts have come under fire from labor groups and regulators. Oftentimes, the amount of debt demanded under TRAP contracts — which can be upward of $50,000 — is far higher than the employer’s training costs.
SLAVERY, WITH EXTRA STEPS.
Ok, maybe my brain is malfunctioning, but how would this play out if the employee just said, “ok, then I’m going to be an absolute nuisance at work until you fire me”?
From the article:
Clown country
That sounds like a clumsy way to do it. It’s difficult to argue that refusal to do your job isn’t intentional fuckery. But I can think of many creative ways of just being hapless at your job. Also, it seems very odd if the employee could just fire you for any reason and then demand payment. I mean, considering that the costs they demand to be paid back generally is higher than the actual cost for the employer, I can see business ‘opportunities’ where they just give you the training and immediately fire you afterwards for any arbitrary reason, and make a profit in the process. Sounds wild.
They include those terms in the papers they have workers sign when they’re hired or before they they train them. I.e. “You have to pay us regardless of if you quit or are terminated.”
If the onboarding contract specifies repayment in cases of termination before a specific date, I assume the employee would be out of luck. Without that contingency covered, the next logical step would be performing poorly enough to get terminated.