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ARTICLE · 03 MARCH 2026

Dear Littler: How Do We Avoid Getting Trapped By Trapped At Work Laws?

Littler Mendelson
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I'm hearing all this chatter about employees being "trapped" at work and I don't understand it. We are a multistate employer that provides relocation benefits and sign-on bonuses to new hires.

United StatesEmployment and HR
Christina G. Cordoza
Christina G. Cordoza
Michael Paglialonga
Michael Paglialonga
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Dear Littler: I'm hearing all this chatter about employees being “trapped” at work and I don't understand it. We are a multistate employer that provides relocation benefits and sign-on bonuses to new hires. We also pay for educational opportunities and training for our new recruits. Of course, we ask that employees receiving these funds contractually agree to repay us if they leave our employment in a year or two; that only seems fair! I'm hearing that New York and California have passed laws targeting these types of agreements as unlawful “training repayment agreement provisions – TRAPs” and “stay-or-pay” restrictions. Our industry is competitive and I don't want to stop providing these incentives to candidates – what should we do? 

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