Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (TRAPs)

Deep Dives

Jul 17, 2024

Deep Dive: How Labor Protections Allow Cities and States to Combat Worker Traps

The work highlighted in this Deep Dive sheds light on the ways that our higher education financing system is detrimental to Black women’s overall well-being and ability to build wealth.

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Press Releases

Jul 11, 2024

Smoothstack Hit with Second FLSA Lawsuit: U.S. Department of Labor Says Staffing Agency Traps Tech Workers into Low-Paying Jobs

Read SBPC’s latest press release.

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Deep Dives

Jul 10, 2024

Deep Dive: How Cities and States Can Unlock Workers Across the Country from TRAPs

This is the kickoff piece for a deep dive series on how city, county, and state regulators can take on Training Repayment Agreement Provisions, or TRAPs, using existing authorities to protect workers.

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Press Releases

Apr 24, 2024

Advocates Condemn U.S. Chamber of Commerce-Led Lawsuit to Block Biden Administration’s Landmark Effort to Ban Non-Competes

Lawsuits look to right-wing judges to overturn final rule, which frees millions from coercive contracts like Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (Traps) and is expected to generate more than $400 billion in increased wages.

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Press Releases

Apr 23, 2024

Advocates Applaud the Federal Trade Commission’s Ban on TRAPs and Stay-or-Pay Contracts that Function as Non-Competes

The FTC’s decision to ban de facto non-competes, like stay-or-pay contracts and TRAPs, will empower millions of workers.

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Fact Sheets

Apr 22, 2024

Fact Sheet: FTC Final Non-Competes Rule

April 23, 2024, the FTC issued a final rule that bans the use of traditional and de facto non-compete agreements, which includes stay-or-pay contracts. See our fact sheet on TRAPs and more.

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Press Releases

Apr 17, 2024

CFPB Halts Silicon Valley Predatory Student Lending Scheme, Bans Disgraced Tech Founder from Student Loan Industry

Austen Allred, pioneering “Income Share Agreement” loan shark and founder of for-profit coding bootcamp BloomTech (formerly “Lambda School”) is named in federal enforcement action; company and founder must cancel debt owed by some current and former students.

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Letters & Memos

Apr 2, 2024

20 Organizations Send Letter to FTC, Calls for a Ban on TRAPs, Highlighting Their Growing Use

20 organizations wrote the FTC to highlight new research documenting the growing use of TRAPs, and called for the FTC to ban their use in the final non-compete rule.

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Press Releases

Mar 21, 2024

Cross-Post: Judge Rules That Requiring Workers To Pay For Training Benefiting Employers Violates The Law

A federal judge denies a motion to dismiss in Fredericks v. Ameriflight, ruling that when employers use TRAPs to try to charge workers for on-the-job training, they may be violating the minimum wage laws. The court also held that the TRAP operated as a “de facto”non-compete by preventing workers from leaving their jobs.

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Blogs

Feb 27, 2024

Congress’s Most Recent Effort to Further Expand Short-Term Pell Hurts Vulnerable Students, Jeopardizes PSLF and Other Biden Efforts to Support Struggling Student Loan Borrowers

The Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act will undercut Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the Biden Administration’s new SAVE Plan.

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News Clips

Jan 23, 2024

Employers’ Use of TRAPs to Avoid Noncompete Scrutiny Prompts Regulatory and Legislative Action

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News Clips

Dec 6, 2023

Federal Agencies Can Disable Employer Debt TRAPs

Other advocates involved in the campaign besides GFI include the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP), and the nonprofit law firm Towards Justice, which has represented workers in stay-or-pay cases. The memos name 16 other supporting groups, many of which sent representatives this week to a conference on stay-or-pay contracts in Irvine, California.

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Press Releases

Dec 4, 2023

Experts Release Major Policy Roadmap and Gather at Convening with Enforcement Officials to Examine Risks Posed by TRAPs and Other Employer-Driven Debt

Compendium of memos outlines broad range of executive actions that federal agencies must take to curb harmful “Stay-or-Pay” employment contracts.

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Reports

Dec 4, 2023

Stay-or-Pay: Federal Actions to End Modern-Day Indentured Servitude Across the Economy

This new policy roadmap outlines a broad range of executive actions that agencies across the federal government must take to curb so-called “Stay-or-Pay” contracts.

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Press Releases

Nov 28, 2023

Convening on Workers, TRAPs, and the Economy

This event examined the risks posed by Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (TRAPs) and other employer-driven debt on workers and the economy.

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News Clips

Oct 12, 2023

It’s a TRAP! Labor Board Seeks to Prohibit Use of Training Repayment Agreement Provisions

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News Clips

Aug 5, 2023

Employer Debt Traps Violate Workers’ Rights, Federal Regulators Say

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Press Releases

Jul 20, 2023

Federal Enforcement Officials Issue Sharp New Warning to Industry: “Workers Face Risks from Employer-Driven Debt”

Advocates applaud first-of-its-kind CFPB report, warning of risky and unlawful Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (TRAPs).

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Blogs

Jul 18, 2023

With Their Action Against Prehired, the CFPB and Other Several States Took a Huge Step Forward. Now They Should Go Further.

Last week, the CFPB and 11 states took action against Prehired, a sham “tech sales” bootcamp. Next, law enforcement should take action against Ejudicate (operating as “Brief”), the company that tried to help Prehired silence students by locking them out of court and into lopsided, back-room arbitration.

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Press Releases

Jun 14, 2023

Former PetSmart Groomer Caught in Predatory Training Repayment Agreement Provision (TRAP) Denied Access to Justice, Seeks Leave to Appeal District Court Decision Ending Ground-Breaking Class Action

By ordering dispute resolved through arbitration, federal judge says PetSmart can use coercive fine print to avoid accountability for TRAP.

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Workplace Debt & Labor Exploitation

Stay-or-Pays and TRAPs

non-competes

State & Local Projects

Racial & Economic Justice

Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (TRAPs)

Deep Dive: How Labor Protections Allow Cities and States to Combat Worker Traps

Smoothstack Hit with Second FLSA Lawsuit: U.S. Department of Labor Says Staffing Agency Traps Tech Workers into Low-Paying Jobs

Deep Dive: How Cities and States Can Unlock Workers Across the Country from TRAPs

Advocates Condemn U.S. Chamber of Commerce-Led Lawsuit to Block Biden Administration’s Landmark Effort to Ban Non-Competes

Advocates Applaud the Federal Trade Commission’s Ban on TRAPs and Stay-or-Pay Contracts that Function as Non-Competes

Fact Sheet: FTC Final Non-Competes Rule

CFPB Halts Silicon Valley Predatory Student Lending Scheme, Bans Disgraced Tech Founder from Student Loan Industry

20 Organizations Send Letter to FTC, Calls for a Ban on TRAPs, Highlighting Their Growing Use

Cross-Post: Judge Rules That Requiring Workers To Pay For Training Benefiting Employers Violates The Law

Congress’s Most Recent Effort to Further Expand Short-Term Pell Hurts Vulnerable Students, Jeopardizes PSLF and Other Biden Efforts to Support Struggling Student Loan Borrowers

Employers’ Use of TRAPs to Avoid Noncompete Scrutiny Prompts Regulatory and Legislative Action

Federal Agencies Can Disable Employer Debt TRAPs

Experts Release Major Policy Roadmap and Gather at Convening with Enforcement Officials to Examine Risks Posed by TRAPs and Other Employer-Driven Debt

Stay-or-Pay: Federal Actions to End Modern-Day Indentured Servitude Across the Economy

Convening on Workers, TRAPs, and the Economy

It’s a TRAP! Labor Board Seeks to Prohibit Use of Training Repayment Agreement Provisions

Employer Debt Traps Violate Workers’ Rights, Federal Regulators Say

Federal Enforcement Officials Issue Sharp New Warning to Industry: “Workers Face Risks from Employer-Driven Debt”

With Their Action Against Prehired, the CFPB and Other Several States Took a Huge Step Forward. Now They Should Go Further.

Former PetSmart Groomer Caught in Predatory Training Repayment Agreement Provision (TRAP) Denied Access to Justice, Seeks Leave to Appeal District Court Decision Ending Ground-Breaking Class Action

EXPLORE MORE