一提起手銬，我們馬上就會聯想到被警察抓起來的罪犯。其實，生活中除了有形的手銬之外，還存在著無形的手銬，也許閱讀本篇文章的你也帶著這樣一副手銬卻不自知。這種無形的手銬經常以充滿誘惑的形式出現，讓你難以抵擋，乖乖就范。如果你的上司準備給你升職，和你簽訂新的合同，那么你要警惕了，他也許正要給你戴上一副金手銬（golden handcuffs）哦。

Golden handcuffs are a system of financial incentives designed to keep an employee from leaving the company. These can include employee stock options which will not vest for several years but are more often contractual obligations to give back lucrative bonuses or other compensation if the employee leaves for another company.

金手銬是不讓員工離開公司的一套經濟刺激方案。可以是員工持股權金手銬的一種，不過股份承諾要好幾年才會兌現，而且一旦員工離職去另一家公司便要按照合同規定返還之前所得紅利以及其他補貼。

In television, if a host has signed the 'golden handcuffs' deal with the network, it means they cannot appear on any other rival channel.

在電視行業，如果一個主播與一個電視網簽訂了“金手銬”協議，那么他就不能再為任何其他與該電視網相競爭的頻道主持節目。

More broadly, the term can also refer to any kind of situation in which a generous salary is used to keep an important employee from looking for a more desirable but less certain position.

廣義上，這個詞還可以用來指用豐厚的薪水來讓重要的員工安于其位，不再去想尋找其他更好的工作。

例如：Teachers joining the most disadvantaged secondary schools are to receive “golden handcuff” payments of ￡10,000 in an attempt to narrow the achievement gap between rich and poor pupils.

加入實力最弱的中學的老師將得到10000英鎊的豐厚薪水，此項決策是通過給教師戴上“金手銬”來縮小家境富有和貧窮的學生之間（由于教育資源的不平衡而帶來）的成就上的差距。

相關閱讀

白名單 white list

裁員之后的ghost work（遺留工作）

誰是angel investor

lipstick effect 口紅效應

（實習生 陳丹妮，英語點津 Helen 編輯）

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