Pennsylvania has a stay-or-pay bill, not a law
HB 421 would limit training repayment agreements in Pennsylvania. Until it passes, your contract decides.
Bill being debated HB 421 in committee since January 2025.
Pennsylvania has no stay-or-pay law. HB 421 has sat in committee since January 30, 2025; an earlier bill, HB 608, died in 2024.
The bill
- HB 421: Would protect workers from training repayment agreement provisions. Referred to the House Labor and Industry Committee on January 30, 2025, with no action since.
Until then
With no state law, a repayment clause is judged as an ordinary contract term. Courts in states without a law have enforced some and thrown out others, often over whether the amount was a fair estimate of a real cost or a penalty for leaving. Federal law still sets a floor: whatever your employer takes back can't push your last week's pay below the federal minimum wage (the FLSA "free and clear" rule). What protects you in a state with no law.
This is general information, not legal advice. For your own contract, a lawyer or your state's labor department can tell you where you stand.
Get one email if Pennsylvania passes it
Pick your state. The day a law there passes, starts or changes, we write once with what it means for your contract.
Sources
- HB 421, training repayment agreement provisions, Pennsylvania General Assembly, read November 8, 2026.
- 29 CFR § 531.35, "free and clear" payment; "kick-backs", Cornell Legal Information Institute, read November 8, 2026.