Long story short:
My job offered me a retention bonus to stay an extra year. They are a small company of maybe 50 employees…this is their second year open and I was the first person offered a bonus like this. They created a contract stating I have to pay it back if I quit before then. This contract was clearly a copy/paste from google somewhere and wasn’t drawn up by an actual attorney but I did sign it.
Fast forward 6 months and I have GOT to gtfo of this place. They have had multiple people accuse them of discrimination, ethical violations and completely looked the other way when I reported another supervisor making homophobic remarks. I’m gay so I found this exceptionally offensive and several people had approached me and reported these remarks. I am also a supervisor but equal to the other, so I had to escalate to my boss.
We do not have HR. The only people aware of my bonus/contract are myself and my boss. I want to leave ASAP but I’d really rather not pay back the entire bonus if I can avoid it, as the employer basically cut my hours after giving me a raise.
Here’s the real interesting part…the bonus was sent via zelle from their account to mine. I do not know if it was from the company account or their personal account. No taxes were deducted. The amount was not recorded in payroll anywhere and still hasn’t been. Is there a way for me to get out of paying back this entire bonus?
If not, should I send it back via zelle or request for it to be withheld from my final paycheck? Thanks!
This is in NC if it’s relevant.