Have you heard of "stay-or-pay clauses" in employment contracts? And that industries that employ a third of American workers now use them?

I first encountered a stay-or-pay clause (often and horribly appropriately called TRAPs) this past summer with a client in healthcare who felt stuck in a horrendous job due to a stay-or-pay clause. These clauses can demand thousands of dollars if a person quits - or even *gets fired* - within a set period of time of starting a job, and the period can be YEARS long.

That client managed to wriggle out (phew!), but I'm glad to see the New York Times bringing these horrendous clauses to the forefront in today's paper. The clauses illegally create a coercion to work in my opinion and according to one attorney cited in the article.

People already have *so many* reasons to feel trapped in exploitative, unsustainable, unhealthy work situations - from fear of not being able to find another job quickly to losing affordable health insurance for their family to having a "spotty resume" to retaliation in their network from a bitter boss. And the list goes on. I hear the litany of stuck points in sessions every day and get so riled up over them.

NO ONE SHOULD FEEL TRAPPED IN THEIR JOB. Period.

Business owners claim they need stay-or-pay clauses to make "sure their investment of time and money doesn't walk out the door."

Hmmm.

How about if instead we treat workers with dignity as a baseline - including by offering a workplace that provides and protects safety of all kinds, a sustainable and humane workload, the ability to have appropriate autonomy? And then we add in some provision for human needs - e.g., caring about them as an individual, the opportunity to feel a sense of belonging, support for their professional development, and a connection to the bigger vision of the organization?

Guess what? They won't walk out the door. Even when other amazing opportunities come their way. I see it firsthand all the time.

A supportive, human-centered, meaning-nurturing workplace retains people. Period.

Plus, it's basic knowledge in psych that avoidance of punishments only motivates people so far. They may "stay," but they won't STAY.

Operate with positives in mind and you instead get retention *plus* genuine engagement.

It's the only recipe that works in the long run - especially in a civilized society that claims to value human dignity. Stay-or-pay clauses have to go.