I had something similar happen to me- my compensation included a big incentive bonus based on an annual target, but half was paid out in advance in like June to

I had something similar happen to me- my compensation included a big incentive bonus based on an annual target, but half was paid out in advance in like June to smooth out the income a bit. One year somebody in payroll royally screwed up and at the half year mark instead of 1/2 of the bonus everyone ended up with the full bonus. The insane/awesome thing was how they clawed it back. The did require everyone pay back money, but only the money that was left after any payroll deductions. Between taxes, insurance, flexible spending accounts, retirement savings, and some other automatic deductions close to 50% of my pay check is deducted, so I walked off with what was effectively a 2.5% bonus. I was pretty happy to send back what they asked for at that point…