<prompt> Human: Kind of a nice problem to have, but basically, 20K payable immediately minus taxes in exchange for an 18 month commitment. Additionally will receive 10,000 stock options this is a pre-IPO startup, so extremely difficult to evaluate the value of the options. The gotchas are:1. Need to repay the full net Retention Bonus if I leave or am terminated with cause i.e. fired for a reason2. Need to repay a pro rata portion of the full net Retention Bonus if terminated without cause presumably if affected by a layoff.3. Release employerinvestors from any existing and future legal claims known and unknown up to the end of the 18 month period excluding claims that are legally not waivable. Im not actively looking to leave this company, but Im concerned that the repayment and release of liability clauses are too heavily stacked in the companies favor. Obviously, I like keeping my options open, but 20K is a nice chunk of change even after taxes.The 20K represents about 15 of my normal base salary. Company has lost 30 of staff mostly due to employees jumping ship. Financial issues are temporarily resolved for the next 12 months or so, as long as the company meets specific performance milestones. Any thoughts are welcome. Specifically, Im curious how often employers actually try to enforce these agreements if the employee is laid off without cause.Ive seen some anecdotal evidence via google search that a payback clause may not always be enforceable in California. Is this anywhere close to being true?Finally, does the term full net Retention Bonus legally imply that the payback amount excludes taxes that were originally withheld approximately 40 in FedStateFICAThanks in advance to all who reply.EDIT: Wow, thanks for all the responses. Apologize that I havent been able to participate in this discussion because Ive been busy at work all morning. Will try to log back in this afternoon, but need to run into another meeting. Youve all given me a lot to think about, though. Much appreciated.  <response>: I dont think Id go anywhere near this offer, for the same reasons that youre concerned. 2 is a huge red flag to me, and 3 would have me running for the hills. 