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I was subject to one as well, but it was just on my base, not total comp, which was not the majority of my compensation. And while my base was fine, it was mor

I was subject to one as well, but it was just on my base, not total comp, which was not the majority of my compensation. And while my base was fine, it was more or less explicitly stated that this was meant to make it painful for employees to leave and had almost zero to do with any special information the employee had.

lokar 2y ago
They have other tricks. My comp was about 80% bonus, most of which went into deferred comp for a few years. If I was to go to a competitor without permission (independent of the non compete) I would forfeit the deferred comp.
- 0xbadcafebee 2y ago
  Reject the handcuffs. Once enough people do, they will stop making it deferred. They know that if you're willing to reject the money, you're willing to leave (the handcuffs aren't keeping you there), and that scares them.
  - anon84873628 2y ago
    That's called a multi-agent coordination problem and game theory tells us it is not so simple to solve.
    - 0xbadcafebee 2y ago
      I don't know about game theory, but a few of us did it at one company and they changed their policy.
- lifeisstillgood 2y ago
  But at a certain point that deferred comp is “enough” that if you just go to work each day and hide in the loos it’s worth waiting around and collecting the cash. And the company won’t benefit from a mostly checked out workforce
  - CydeWeys 2y ago
    The bar is quite high at these kinds of companies. If you let off the gas and try to coast like that, you'll just get fired and thus lose the deferred comp that way.
  - lokar 2y ago
    Worse. The next employer will just repay you. They all do this, so no one really gets and advantage, but they all pay.
jbullock35 2y ago
I'm not sure that I understand. What does it mean for a noncompete to apply only to base compensation? Is the idea that if you join a competing company within X months of leaving your old company, you need to repay your base salary to the old company?
- o_nate 2y ago
  No, it just means that during the period after you stop working at the old job but before you can start working at the new job, you are paid only your base. This can be a significant reduction in total comp in industries such as finance.
  - bluGill 2y ago
    I have worked jobs where the best bonus over 5 years was $500, while the typical year all we got was a promise that if things go well there will be a bonus. I've worked other jobs where the worst bonus was $15000 (a really bad year for the company), and could be up to $50,000. This is as a regular engineer, management can get a lot more. The first company taught me at until the money is in my account the bonus is meaningless. The second taught me that they aren't just a rumor. Most companies don't even pretend to offer a bonus which is acceptable - at least I know what I will make. I think everyone should make 2-3x the poverty level income (we can debate exact numbers), and everything after that is bonus. So long as the company pays a bonus most years it means in a bad year you have enough to live on and don't need to find a new job, while in a good year you have a nice bonus to buy nice toys.
    - emidln 2y ago
      In finance, it's common to see a base of 150,000 and a VR of between 300k and 750k for engineers. During garden leave, you get paid your $150,000 as part of payroll, but are ineligble for VR. Your total comp goes from 450,000 (in mediocre years) or 900,000 (in good years) to 150,000 for whatever your non-compete period is (6 months, 12 months, 24 months are all common).
      - 2y ago

lokar 2y ago

They have other tricks. My comp was about 80% bonus, most of which went into deferred comp for a few years. If I was to go to a competitor without permission (independent of the non compete) I would forfeit the deferred comp.

0xbadcafebee 2y ago
Reject the handcuffs. Once enough people do, they will stop making it deferred. They know that if you're willing to reject the money, you're willing to leave (the handcuffs aren't keeping you there), and that scares them.
- anon84873628 2y ago
  That's called a multi-agent coordination problem and game theory tells us it is not so simple to solve.
  - 0xbadcafebee 2y ago
    I don't know about game theory, but a few of us did it at one company and they changed their policy.
lifeisstillgood 2y ago
But at a certain point that deferred comp is “enough” that if you just go to work each day and hide in the loos it’s worth waiting around and collecting the cash. And the company won’t benefit from a mostly checked out workforce
- CydeWeys 2y ago
  The bar is quite high at these kinds of companies. If you let off the gas and try to coast like that, you'll just get fired and thus lose the deferred comp that way.
- lokar 2y ago
  Worse. The next employer will just repay you. They all do this, so no one really gets and advantage, but they all pay.

jbullock35 2y ago

I'm not sure that I understand. What does it mean for a noncompete to apply only to base compensation? Is the idea that if you join a competing company within X months of leaving your old company, you need to repay your base salary to the old company?

o_nate 2y ago
No, it just means that during the period after you stop working at the old job but before you can start working at the new job, you are paid only your base. This can be a significant reduction in total comp in industries such as finance.
- bluGill 2y ago
  I have worked jobs where the best bonus over 5 years was $500, while the typical year all we got was a promise that if things go well there will be a bonus. I've worked other jobs where the worst bonus was $15000 (a really bad year for the company), and could be up to $50,000. This is as a regular engineer, management can get a lot more. The first company taught me at until the money is in my account the bonus is meaningless. The second taught me that they aren't just a rumor. Most companies don't even pretend to offer a bonus which is acceptable - at least I know what I will make. I think everyone should make 2-3x the poverty level income (we can debate exact numbers), and everything after that is bonus. So long as the company pays a bonus most years it means in a bad year you have enough to live on and don't need to find a new job, while in a good year you have a nice bonus to buy nice toys.
  - emidln 2y ago
    In finance, it's common to see a base of 150,000 and a VR of between 300k and 750k for engineers. During garden leave, you get paid your $150,000 as part of payroll, but are ineligble for VR. Your total comp goes from 450,000 (in mediocre years) or 900,000 (in good years) to 150,000 for whatever your non-compete period is (6 months, 12 months, 24 months are all common).
    - 2y ago