‘I feel like a criminal for quitting’: nurses in the US fight ‘stay or pay’ agreements

Filipino nurses for Ohio-based company say they have been forced to pay thousands in fees after signing training contracts

Filipino nurses are calling for the US’s top labor watchdog to review controversial “stay or pay” training repayment agreement provisions that have left them facing lawsuits and thousands of dollars in fees after they quit their jobs.

Training repayment agreement provisions (Trap) are contracts employers require workers to sign before beginning a job and stipulate that if a worker leaves the job before a specified time, they owe substantial fees.

Nurses who worked for the Ohio-based CommuniCare Family of Companies, one of the largest providers of post-acute care in the US, say they have been subjected to buyout fees of thousands of dollars when they resign and have been sued by their former employer.

Jeddalyn Ramos, a 30-year-old from the Philippines worked for four months at a CommuniCare-owned short-term and senior rehab facility in Pittsburgh in 2022 and paid $15,555.45 in fees when she quit her job.