Credit: Stan Grossfeld / The Boston Glode / Getty
Bosses in industries such as retail, health care and logistics are reverting to an old tactic and trapping people in miserable jobs by threatening to saddle them with debt if they quit. Workers across the United States in fields ranging from nursing to trucking have been discouraged from leaving jobs they hate or can’t afford to keep because employers vow to charge them for training costs if they quit before an arbitrary deadline.
The threats are backed by so-called Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (TRAPs) in employment contracts. The practice has been likened by critics to indentured servitude and peonage — formerly common types of debt bondage in which a borrower was bound to perform labor for a creditor.
TRAPs have recently come under fire from policymakers because of class action litigation against the pet store chain PetSmart, and reporting on the restrictive […]
Wow. Never heard of this. And some thought the “independent contractor” scam was bad by companies to avoid paying for benefits (like health care)
Capitalists have a long history of seeking to enslave their workers. As coal became increasingly important, collirs in Scotland were prevented by law from leaving their jobs, and they could be sold to others along with the mines in which they toiled. “Do not Compete” agreements have prevented employees from leaving for similar jobs with other businesses, and these are not just people with technical skills. And this stuff as well.
Nothing better demonstrates the utter emptiness of ‘free market’ types praising ‘freedom.’