4 ms·

I for one think companies need to be taught a lesson for giving paycheck advances and calling it a bonus. You have been given an interest free, unsecured loan

I for one think companies need to be taught a lesson for giving paycheck advances and calling it a bonus. You have been given an interest free, unsecured loan with no minimum payment and unspecified term. So, just pay it back at your leisure. One dollar per year.

codeonfire 11y ago
No bonus should ever have to be paid back. If you have to pay it back it is a loan or prepaid work. Signing bonuses should be a reward for agreeing to start work, not work for a year. If $35k is too much for that, then don't pay $35k, pay $5k or zero. If you want someone to stay a year, pay a one year $35k bonus. The only reason these repayment agreements exist is because the company expects employees to go underwater and be trapped at their company. How does that make good employment policy to have people forced to work at your company?
- danieltillett 11y ago
  I think life is a bit more complex than this. There is good reasons for having a signing bonus be repaid if the recipient leaves within the stated time period, but it should be set at a level that make the person think twice about leaving, but not not so high that the person is handcuffed to the job. It sounds like $35K was too high and maybe a number around $10K would have been a better fit. I am surprised anyone would spend a signing bonus until they are sure they wanted to work at the company that had given it to them. Keep the money safe until you are sure you want to stay.
  - codeonfire 11y ago
    Well, people starting a job often have a large number of expenses and have probably gone a few months without income and have a few catastrophes they pushed back a few weeks. Yeah it's nice not to live paycheck to paycheck but even a large number of businesses could not go a significant amount of time with no cash flow.
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      Well if you have no choice then you don’t have a choice :) It is still a very good idea to save as absolutely as much as you can until you know you want to stay.
rhapsodic 11y ago
I wonder if a court would see it that way, rather than a simple exchange of considerations, in which the employee failed to hold up his end of the deal? Maybe this employer didn't have an employment lawyer draft or review the contract for them, and the law holds that the employee can treat it as an "interest free, unsecured loan with no minimum payment and no unspecified term." Or maybe they don't really care about $35K or whether the employees they give signing bonuses uphold their end of the agreement. It's possible, but I have my doubts.

codeonfire 11y ago

No bonus should ever have to be paid back. If you have to pay it back it is a loan or prepaid work. Signing bonuses should be a reward for agreeing to start work, not work for a year. If $35k is too much for that, then don't pay $35k, pay $5k or zero. If you want someone to stay a year, pay a one year $35k bonus. The only reason these repayment agreements exist is because the company expects employees to go underwater and be trapped at their company. How does that make good employment policy to have people forced to work at your company?

danieltillett 11y ago
I think life is a bit more complex than this. There is good reasons for having a signing bonus be repaid if the recipient leaves within the stated time period, but it should be set at a level that make the person think twice about leaving, but not not so high that the person is handcuffed to the job. It sounds like $35K was too high and maybe a number around $10K would have been a better fit. I am surprised anyone would spend a signing bonus until they are sure they wanted to work at the company that had given it to them. Keep the money safe until you are sure you want to stay.
- codeonfire 11y ago
  Well, people starting a job often have a large number of expenses and have probably gone a few months without income and have a few catastrophes they pushed back a few weeks. Yeah it's nice not to live paycheck to paycheck but even a large number of businesses could not go a significant amount of time with no cash flow.
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    Well if you have no choice then you don’t have a choice :) It is still a very good idea to save as absolutely as much as you can until you know you want to stay.

rhapsodic 11y ago

I wonder if a court would see it that way, rather than a simple exchange of considerations, in which the employee failed to hold up his end of the deal? Maybe this employer didn't have an employment lawyer draft or review the contract for them, and the law holds that the employee can treat it as an "interest free, unsecured loan with no minimum payment and no unspecified term." Or maybe they don't really care about $35K or whether the employees they give signing bonuses uphold their end of the agreement. It's possible, but I have my doubts.