Clawbacks, Non-Competes etc. for Analysts

Hi all,

Have an interview coming up with a London boutique for an analyst role (lateral from another industry).

Have since discovered from Glassdoor that this firm has a 2 year bonus clawback and a 6mth non-compete clause for Analysts...

Seems pretty egregious to me for an Analyst role, or is this standard practice? If not then what would standard terms be?

Cheers

4 Comments
 

There are no red flags from the information you posted but the actual terms may differ so take some time to look at your offer letter carefully. It will differ greatly between companies.

This is standard practice, although this doesn't usually refer to your year end bonus.

Clawbacks are usually closer to one year of any initial bonuses plus your signing bonus.

The second year may refer to A to A promotes but it doesn't matter since the principle is the same.

BTW, non-competes are generally nonenforceable here for junior staff (I'm referring to Connecticut and New York specifically) maybe someone more familiar with the UK can shed some more light.

 
Best Response

Is it a non-compete or gardening leave? As you know, firms in the UK tend to have longer gardening leaves and they are more common at the junior level than what you see elsewhere (although I don't think I have heard of anything longer than 2-3 months). While 6 months seems kind of ridiculously long, at least with a gardening leave, you are still being paid (for doing nothing). Obviously it would cause some issue with recruiting.

As mentioned above, It's pretty standard for banking employment letters to include a (usually one-year) claw back on signing bonuses and any other compensation paid upfront. And pretty much all deferred comp (which you may not get as an analyst depending on the policies of the bank you would work at) can be clawed back (clawed back probably isn't the right term since the bonus has been earned but not paid, but anyway), but I don't see how you realistically claw back comp that's already been paid.

 

Thanks for the response.

From what I've seen on Glassdoor it's an actual non-compete, i.e. forced unemployment, and they are known to enforce it..!

Will update if/when I get more info.

 

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