NISKAYUNA — A Niskayuna resident who was sued by a former employer to recoup training expenses has spurred proposed labor legislation from Assemblymember Phil Steck, D-Colonie to address training repayment agreement provisions (TRAPs).

The provisions require workers to pay prohibitive sums if they leave a job before a certain time period.

When Trish D’Allaird took a job with a local lash studio for a part-time job, as a condition of her $14-per-hour job, the Niskayuna resident was required to sign an agreement to stay with the employer for one year or risk being sued for $5,000 for training reimbursement.

According to D’Allaird, the training consisted of a co-worker demonstrating how to apply lashes on a client, a process that she was already intimately familiar with as a licensed cosmetologist.

Following her exit from the shop, D’Allaird was sued by the employer for alleged training costs.

“In the hourly wages I was making, if this training reimbursement held, I literally would have worked four months and would have been paying the employer money at the end of it,” she said. “I’m walking away with no training. I’ve been licensed for over 20 years and I could have performed these tasks legally and lawfully on my own without any training or having worked there. Because I signed a piece of paper, I’m being held accountable for this money.”

After learning of D’Allaird’s story, Steck introduced legislation to protect residents from TRAPs, which Steck contends violate minimum...

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