Enacts the "trapped at work act"

Workers protected from quit repayment notes

Effective immediately, New York employers cannot require workers or job applicants to sign prohibited notes demanding repayment for leaving early. This includes job-training repayment notes, which are void and cannot be enforced; other contract terms remain valid. Protection covers employees, independent contractors, interns, volunteers, apprentices, and other service providers, but not people who only sell goods. Exceptions preserve non-training advances, property purchases or leases, educational staff sabbatical agreements, and programs agreed to with workers’ union representatives. Employees who successfully defend an employer’s lawsuit over a void note may recover attorney’s fees, with no set amount. The commissioner imposes fines of $1,000 to $5,000 per violation, counting each worker or applicant required to sign or targeted for enforcement separately. These fines are employer penalties, not payments to workers, and the law preserves other legal rights and remedies.