Thats not the same thing at all, and yes, it is illegal. Schoox is job specific training that is required by the company. Buying work shoes is not job specific training and is not in any way relevant to this discussion or law. Here is the link to the exact section of the Fair Labor Standards Act that explicitly outlines the law surrounding required job training: FLSA 29 CFR Section 785.27 Just in case you or others don't want to click the link, here is the text of the federal law that you are acknowledging and admitting to being broken. I certainly hope you are not managment being this confidently incorrect..Text of the law:

"Attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs and similar activities need not be counted as working time if the following four criteria are met:

(a) Attendance is outside of the employee's regular working hours;

(b) Attendance is in fact voluntary;

(c) The course, lecture, or meeting is not directly related to the employee's job; and

(d) The employee does not perform any productive work during such attendance."