golden handcuffs
incentives like bonuses, raises, insurance plans, and flexible hours that discourage employees from leaving a company: She wasn’t especially happy in her job, but the healthcare benefits were the golden handcuffs that kept her from looking elsewhere.
Origin of golden handcuffs
1Words Nearby golden handcuffs
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
British Dictionary definitions for golden handcuffs
informal payments deferred over a number of years that induce a person to stay with a particular company or in a particular job
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with golden handcuffs
Financial benefits that an employee will lose upon resigning, as in The company's presented all the middle managers with golden handcuffs, so they can't afford to leave. This slangy business expression dates from the 1970s.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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