hiring bonus payback

[workerbeeCA]

I work in CA where people hop from job to job in a heartbeat. I have signed an agreement with my employer for a hiring bonus paid in a lump sum at employment. They have stipulated that if I am to leave before 12 months, the entire amount would be payable back to the company (they do not specify when it has to be paid back and how it has to be paid back). I did not think of asking for a proration of payback based on the time that I stayed.

What are my legal obligations to pay back this amount if I do not want to burn my bridges with the company? I am willing to payback the prorated portion but not the entire amount.

 

[ALawyer]

Your obligations are what you are able to negotiate. Some companies won't negotiate and those who start trying to get a deal come accross as job hoppers that companies don't want to hire at all. It costs companies a lot of money to bring in and train new employees and they don;t get that back unless the employee stays a while.

As a suggestion, if youd suggest the pro-rate starts at month 6 and the drop off rate is 2 months for every month after month 6 they'd be more likely to go along with it, but otherwise you essentially are asking for an upfront lump sum pay increase for the first year.