I’ve heard it both ways. Either: 1) you receive your signing bonus up front Or 2) you receive your signing bonus as spread out payments included in your salary check. Could someone clarify which procedure they employ?
1st year is upfront. 2nd years is spread out payments.
It depends on how big your signing bonus is. Smaller bonuses are paid in a lump sum, larger are spread out over the year and considered earned income. Your offer letter will be specific. I don’t know what the cutoff is. If you’re an SDE hire from industry, it’s likely spread out. I think from college it’s likely lump. My first and second year bonuses are both spread.
This is accurate
I believe the cutoff is 25K to determine lump sum or pro-rated
Starting bonuses have been growing, so the first year are almost always over the $25k (for SDEs), so this means it is paid out monthly, earned daily, so you never have to pay any back.
I started in August and my 40k signing bonus was paid as lump sum, with another 35k paid out evenly over year 2. New grad
What was your total offer breakdown? That's much higher than any new grad offers I've heard for 2019
I’m in Bay Area, I think this offer was standard here
160 something year one, 130 something year two. Everything is spread equally on every paycheck.
Got a return offer as intern this summer and can confirm first portion is lump
New grad policy is different since the signing bonuses for new grads is below the threshold which is 35k I believe.
So my takeaways is that it depends. It looks like you get the lump sum if you’re coming out of college but if not then it’s spread out. I wonder if these options are negotiable
For lateral hires it is typically spread out. Spreading out bonus attracts lower tax, at marginal tax rate. Lump Sum bonuses will typically attract much higher taxes like 40%. This is why generally some companies, such as Amazon, will spread out bonuses over time (this will also spread out expenses on their P&L so the company benefits as well)
So if you leave early do you have to pay back in entirety (prior to 1 year)? Or is it essentially prorated
Afaik, you always receive spread out. Why would anyone give u upfront
My understanding of a signing bonus was that it was a bonus you receive at signing...
Because not everyone is a stingy asshole like Bezos? 🍆