PetSmart settles case involving charging PA employees for ‘free’ program

Harrisburg, PA ( WJET/WFXP )– Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Michelle Henry announced Thursday they’ve agreed to a settlement with PetSmart over a program offering free pet grooming for employees and then billing them for it.

AG Henry announced Thursday that PetSmart will have to pay $20,000 in addition to not being allowed to use programs offering free goods or services unless all of the terms, conditions, and obligations are clearly and conspicuously disclosed upfront.

For an unspecified period of time, PetSmart would offer the training for PA employees under the understanding it would be free however they would require anyone who enrolled to agree to pay up to $5,500 if they left the company in the next two years.

AG Henry said these agreements are called training repayment agreement provisions, or TRAPs and that PetSmart has stopped offering them along with taking steps to help reduce the toll this had on PA employees.

“Employees taking advantage of seemingly free training are seeking to better their skills and knowledge for their jobs. PetSmart took advantage of those aspirations and set Pennsylvania employees up to pay thousands of dollars while misrepresenting the terms,” Attorney General Henry said. “Practices like these are unfair and my office will continue to work to stop their use and protect hardworking Pennsylvanians.”

AG Henry advises anyone who thinks they or someone they know may have been impacted by a TRAP agreement by a current or former employer should file a complaint online here.

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