golden handcuffs
plural noun
: special benefits offered to an employee as an inducement to continue service
Did you know?
Chances are you've heard of a golden handshake, which is a particularly tempting severance agreement offered to an employee in an effort to induce the person to retire early. People started getting golden handshakes (by that name) around 1960; by 1976, English speakers had also coined the accompanying golden handcuffs to describe a situation in which someone is offered a special inducement to stay. The expression turns up often in quasi-literal uses, such as "slapped golden handcuffs on" or "a shiny new set of golden handcuffs."
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Some of us restrain ourselves with another type of golden handcuffs: low mortgage rates. 
cleveland, 4 June 2022 With all these limitations, fertility benefits can be something like golden handcuffs. Megan Leonhardt, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2022 This year they were booked by the network's producers so rarely that their contracts could be likened to golden handcuffs. Brian Stelter, CNN, 21 Nov. 2021 Take off the golden handcuffs, and don’t let the lure of benefits keep you from becoming who you were meant to be. Chris Westfall, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2021 If there exists a compensation package for a former first-round quarterback that lands somewhere between nine-figure golden handcuffs and bus fare out of town, N.F.L. front offices have yet to discover it. New York Times, 30 Dec. 2020 His team is contractually bound to the sport until 2020 thanks to a hefty pair of golden handcuffs. Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 6 Nov. 2017 See More
cleveland, 4 June 2022 With all these limitations, fertility benefits can be something like golden handcuffs. Megan Leonhardt, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2022 This year they were booked by the network's producers so rarely that their contracts could be likened to golden handcuffs. Brian Stelter, CNN, 21 Nov. 2021 Take off the golden handcuffs, and don’t let the lure of benefits keep you from becoming who you were meant to be. Chris Westfall, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2021 If there exists a compensation package for a former first-round quarterback that lands somewhere between nine-figure golden handcuffs and bus fare out of town, N.F.L. front offices have yet to discover it. New York Times, 30 Dec. 2020 His team is contractually bound to the sport until 2020 thanks to a hefty pair of golden handcuffs. Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 6 Nov. 2017 See More Word History
First Known Use
1964, in the meaning defined above