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Glite Dictionary
golden handshake

golden handshake

1 5.5
Money that a company pays an employee when they leave, often to encourage early retirement
  • noun
  • /ˈɡoʊldən ˈhændʃeɪk/
translation icon : indemnización dorada
  • A golden handshake is what they give you when you've been working for the same company for thirty-five years, and they lay you off with a month's notice and before your pension comes due.

Examples

  • When the CEO announced his retirement, he was offered a lucrative golden handshake to ensure a smooth transition.

  • I do not look at the recent golden handshake given to the leader of Amnesty International and her senior management team, totaling over 300,000, when staff had to be cut at Amnesty UK to know a bad punt.

    Blog text (20)

  • With a golden handshake of 75 million...

    Elevator (2013)

  • The truth is that Russian oligarchs who give the right people in power a golden handshake, have been welcomed into London for years.

  • Sometimes when companies are downsizing, they lay folk off by offering "golden handshakes," which are special packages to employees who consent to take early retirement.

    Blog text (1)

  • The company used a golden handshake as an incentive for older employees to retire early and reduce payroll costs.

  • After dedicating twenty years to the firm, she received a generous golden handshake upon her departure.

Synonyms

golden parachute
vsgolden handshake
  • Specialized
6 6.8

A large payment to a top manager when they leave after a takeover

applies to departing employees, often as a retirement incentive or severance

How Generous

golden parachute
  • Specialized
6 6.8
golden handshake
1 5.5

Surface Forms

golden handshake singular
golden handshakes plural

Morphology

golden + handshake

The adjective 'golden' (valuable/especially favourable) plus 'handshake' (a brief agreement or pact) gives a partial cue that this is a favourable or valuable deal, but the precise sense — a large lump-sum severance payment given on leaving a job — is not directly derivable from the literal words. Learners who know the constituents might guess a positive agreement but would likely not predict the specific monetary/severance meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Golden handshake comes from the image of an employer giving a very valuable golden handshake, like a shiny gift when someone 'leaves a job'. That's why it now means a large sum of money paid to a worker when they leave.