when these incentives are offered they come with certain terms usually they state that bonuses or other forms of compensation are only paid out if the employee stays for a defined period of time or if they are paid out first then they must be returned to the company if the employee leaves before a certain date 
other forms of golden handcuffs include contractual obligations that specify an action that an employee may or may not perform such as a contract prohibiting a network television host from appearing on a competing channel example of golden handcuffscharles has been working for company xyz for five years in those five years the company has spent a significant amount of time and money in training and developing charle s skill set within that same time frame charles has demonstrated his exceptional talent and ability to perform well for the company not only has the cost in training charles been returned to the company many times over due to his work ethic but he will be a remarkable asset to the firm for many years to come because charles is such an exceptional employee xyz is worried they may lose him to a competitor that may offer more money or other incentives to prevent this from happening xyz offers charles a significant financial incentive through employee stock options however the stock options do not vest for five years ensuring charles will stay with the company for those five years and not miss out on a significant cash windfall 