Insurance company asks applicant to complete 15 hours of unpaid training before giving them an official offer

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jun 4, 2026 8:30 AM EDT

Should you have to complete hours of training for free?

Training is work. Any time you have to clock in hours for a job, you should be compensated for it. Even if you haven't accepted the job yet. It's wrong to ask someone to do their job without pay, and that includes training. The employee in this story, which was shared to r/antiwork, was being asked to work for free. Sure, you might do an interview and some prep work on your free time, but once you start completing tasks for a company, you should be compensated. This is a pretty simple principle, but one that is harder to do in real life. Companies take too much for granted. They know it's a tough job market, and that applicants will do anything to stand out. They might even take less than what they know they deserve because it's such a push. But we shouldn't lose our respect for one another. We should remember that our time is precious and we should treat it as such. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10636055040
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    A tired young woman puts her head in her hands at work

  • Health insurance company wants me to complete 25 modules before I receive an official offer?

    I just had my first interview this morning in their office. This company said I have to complete a set of 20 modules on their "policies" including HIPAA, timeclock and pay, and their company-mandated training must be completed at home on my own time. This is unpaid.
    via krammiit
  • I live in Pennsylvania. Since I am doing this at home and it's a requirement before hire, is this considered wage theft? I was told in person that I will not be given a formal offer of employment unless I do the training. I was also told they will immediately move on to the next candidate by Thursday if I don't do them within 48 hours.
    via krammiit
  • All of the training should take "less than 15 hours". This seems odd to me and the modules all have tests at the end that must be completed also. Thoughts on this?
    via krammiit

  • Commenters gave their takes.

    dirtyitalianguy I had to take various modules in CBT form for my current healthcare environment, but it was ON PAID TIME my first two days ON SITE on their PCs. 15 hours of training is a heavy lift if you are not 100% certain of receiving an adequate offer that meets your needs. I would balk at that personally.
    via dirtyitalianguy
  • Cheezburger Image 10636055296
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    A woman holds her fingers to her temples at work

  • We all have places to go, people to see, and things to do in our lives besides work. We don't have to drop everything just because a prospective job wants something. Sure, you may be extra sensitive to the needs and wants of your future employer, but that doesn't mean you need to compromise your needs in order to please someone. You get to maintain your dignity and status. That's not what happened here. Here, a worker was being asked to do something that might have even been against the law. You shouldn't require people to work when they're not being compensated for it. This is classically against the rules. They may have disguised it as training, but it was much more than that. It required significant time and attention. So the worker here wondered whether or not this was a reasonable request and reached out to the internet to help make sense of it. Keep reading to see what happened here and see what you think.

  • Kamel-Red I don't complete mandatory work or training unpaid/off the clock. Yes, it's wage theft. Good luck doing anything about it.
    via Kamel-Red
  • In before someone mentions reporting them to some government agency that had no teeth and colluded with large employers before this administration gutted half of the institutions and made sure the other half were loyal sycophants who DGAF about the working
    via Kamel-Red
  • class (as if reporting ever resulted in anything other than a target on your back and the lawyers getting a payday). If they won't pay you, its time to move on.
    via Kamel-Red
  • Survive1014 Nope. I dont work for free. A hour for a interview. Maybe another hour for a group/manager interview. Otherwise you will have to put me on the clock.
    via Survive1014
  • AbsiDog If the law requires you to have certain certifications (HIPAA?, but I've always gotten certified after my start date) to be allowed to work, they can require you to the training before hire date.
    via AbsiDog
  • Other things like filling out forms for where you live, auto deposit are generally done prior to start date as well, but it's like 5 mins to complete Making your employment contingent on training modules
    via AbsiDog
  • for company policy is not allowed, however. Any training that is directly related to your job and not mandated by law requires compensation. If you need a job, I'd probably just do it if I was in your shoes. If you have other options, that'd be better. Requiring 15 hours of training pre-employment is insane, it's 2 workdays. F any company like that
    via AbsiDog
  • Niel15 Yeah, don't bother. If they treat applicants like this, imagine how they treat their employees.
    via Niel15
  • Fhotaku Agreed with the other commenter- That's wage theft, I would run. I would also report and name-and-shame where you can to keep others from falling for it.
    via Fhotaku
  • Taowulf I work for a not for profit health insurance company and as incompetent as they are, they know that required training like HIPAA that is required by law is paid training. Requiring you to complete 15 hours of this before hiring without pay is absolute bulls
    via Taowulf
  • As far as policies and everything else, this is onboarding and you should be paid for it. Mandated = paid, 'nuff said. I am la d off, BTW, which is why I refer to their incompetence.
    via Taowulf
  • MrFriend623 You could contact an employment lawyer, but I'm not sure that's the best foot to start off a new job on. Probably better to just go get a different job. Yes, it is 100% wage theft.
    via MrFriend623
  • Scouthawkk That's some shady sh. I work in a mental health adjacent field that requires similar onboarding trainings (HIPAA compliance, confidentiality, technology security, mandated reporter training, universal precautions
    via Scouthawkk
  • & OSHA trainings depending on employer, etc) and it's always part of PAID onboarding training in the first 2-3 weeks of employment. I'd run - and do Glassdoor & Indeed reviews to warn future applicants.
    via Scouthawkk
  • violet-waves Mandatory training is required to be paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act. They are trying to get around this by requiring it of you before they employ you. Get what they're asking you to do in writing and then send it to the local labor board.
    via violet-waves
  • IHS1970 They're probably being paid by an Al company for all the keystrokes etc. Back in the day I had a whole day of tests, skills, etc at IBM (got the job) but I wasn't paid, so I guess it's not unusual, just a and annoying. b
    via IHS1970
  • Mr_Horsejr Wage theft. Move on or get them to fire you for something that is legally perceived as wage theft (don't do it on your own time) and then sue them for wage theft.
    via Mr_Horsejr
  • indicatprincess I don't do unpaid training. This wouldn't be a good fit for me. I'm suspicious and would assume they'd have me completing some sort of project for them under the guise of another interview, or selling my data.
    via indicatprincess

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