• Apytele@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    My new job came with a 10k sign on bonus and I just got the first half 3 months in. I have to pay the whole thing back if I leave within 2 years. I was planning on keeping all of it in high yield savings in case I need to slap it back down on the table and run, and best case scenario at the end I have a house downpayment.

    Y’all. I got taxed more on this check than I made in working hours. I got the 5k bonus and 3k of working hours. I paid over 3k in taxes and didn’t even net 5k this check. It was 4900 something.

    I understand that I’m not “poor” anymore but I’m still paycheck to paycheck (I wound up just paying off some credit card debt; I’ll get a loan if I need to run). More importantly I have a real job. I’m not some marketing desk jockey or a landlord or an MLM “entrepreneur,” I’m an inpatient bedside nurse. I don’t want to sound full of myself but how does Jeff Bezos not pay any taxes and I’m over here paying 37%???

    • RagingHungryPanda@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      Taxes are usually taken out using the monthly amount like a yearly amount. You’ll probably get a lot of it back when you pay taxes for the year.

    • tyler@programming.dev
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      2 days ago

      You should reduce your tax amount that your company is paying for you to the IRS. You can calculate it yourself and tell your company to modify it.

      • nfh@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Form W-4 is the paper you’re supposed to use, they may have a digital version they prefer, but that’s the thing to look for. You can adjust your withholdings that way.

        • tyler@programming.dev
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          2 days ago

          Withholding. That’s the word I was looking for. I shouldn’t be on the internet seconds after I wake up.

    • Grimy@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I would check with your local laws but it’s very rare those kinds of policy are enforceable. If you need to pay them 5k to quit, it’s akin to slavery.

      • nfh@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        No, they’re actually pretty common in certain industries, and definitely enforceable, at least for sure within the state of California. If you sign a contract that says you get a certain amount of money for starting a job, contingent on working for them a certain length of time, that’s typically paid out on day 1, but you have to pay it back if you leave early.

        • Grimy@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Ya for sure, my point is more that compagnies will use it even in place where it isn’t enforceable. Although it’s an anecdote, it did happen to my sister in a place where it wasn’t allowed. They didn’t even ask again after the first time she told them to pound sand.

          I also really doubt if it’s enforceable in California if there is a valid reason. I can’t imagine a company going after someone if they quit because of a toxic environment, lax safety standards, sexual harassment or something similar. But I’m just making an educated guess tbh.

          I knew about it in California but it always surprises me with its reputation.

          • nfh@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            I wouldn’t doubt companies would use it any place it’s not enforceable, and at least attempt to collect.

            I’m not sure the nuances of it, other than having talked to a couple of people who were in that situation, talked to an attorney, and ended up paying. I would suspect having a valid reason like sexual harassment wouldn’t affect if it’s enforceable per se, but give you a lot of leverage to convince a company it isn’t worth pressing the issue.

      • Apytele@sh.itjust.works
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        2 days ago

        Yeah slavery is pretty much just legal in a bunch of the US. It could be worse, I could be a prison laborer or one of those immigrant nurses who have been basically legally human trafficked into high violence positions like psychiatry, ER, or skilled nursing facilities (nursing homes, lots of dementia with little support / backup). I do work psychiatry but I’m an actual psych nurse as opposed to a medical specialty nurse who got suckered into it with no actual psych experience and now is stuck dodging punches to keep their green card. It’s really hard to not sound prejudiced when honestly my biggest problem with them bringing in so many international nurses is that they’re doing the immigrant nurses dirty. The fact that their abuse exists as a mechanism to depress my wages is just icing on the shit cake.