Entry in progress—B.P.
 
Wikipedia: Golden handcuffs
Golden handcuffs are a system of financial incentives designed to keep an employee from leaving the company. These can include employee stock options that will not vest for several years but are more often contractual obligations to give back lucrative bonuses or other compensation if the employee leaves for another company.
 
In Business
Golden handcuffs are a response by the companies in industries where it is common for highly compensated employees to frequently move from one firm to another, often before the company feels that it has earned a return on the investment in the employee.
 
Some US courts have held such plans to violate the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by failing to vest benefits.
 
. Serio v. Wachovia 2007 Lexis 63341 (D. N.J. 2007)
. Holzer v. Prudential 458 F. Supp. 2d 587 (N.D. Ill. 2006) 2006 Lexis 73049
. McKinsey v. Sentry 986 F. 2d 401 (10th Cir. 1993) 1993 Lexis 2865
. Holansky v. Prudential 2004 Lexis 1419 (N.D. Ill. 2004)
 
In television, if a host has signed the ‘golden handcuffs’ deal with the network, it means they cannot appear on any other rival channel. An example of this would be British television hosts Ant & Dec.
 
More broadly, the term can also refer to any kind of situation in which a generous salary is used to keep an important employee from looking for a more desirable but less certain position.
 
Investopedia
What Does Golden Handcuffs Mean?
An incentive given to existing employees in hopes that they will decide to stay with the company
 
InvestorWords.com
golden handcuffs
Rewards and penalties designed to discourage key employees from leaving a company.
 
The Free Dictionary
golden handcuffs
pl.n. Slang (used with a sing. verb)
A lucrative incentive to an executive intended to discourage resignation or ensure long-term cooperation after departure.
 
(Oxford English Dictionary)
golden handcuffs n. orig. U.S. benefits provided by an employer, esp. a corporation, to make it difficult or unattractive for an employee to leave and work elsewhere.
1976 D. W. Moffat Econ. Dict. 130/2   *Golden handcuffs, benefits provided by employers in such a manner as to make it costly for employees to change jobs, thereby removing the competitive advantage an individual would otherwise have in selling his labor.
1982 Wall St. Jrnl. 9 Feb. 16/3   Getty Oil is trying to lock ‘golden handcuffs’ on explorationists by offering them four-year loans ‘up front’ equal to 80% of an employee’s salary.
1985 Times 4 Apr. 30/1   Managers‥have private health insurance, a better than average pension scheme, a car, and perhaps help with independent school fees from the company. These ‘golden handcuffs’ are a hangover from the days of labour shortages and income policies and higher tax rates.