Signing bonus

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A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee by a company as an incentive to join that company. Signing bonuses are almost exclusively only given to full-time salaried employees of a company, as opposed to a temp-hire or intern. These are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive to the employee e.g. if the annual salary is lower than he or she desires. It also lowers the risk to the company as it is a one-time payment: if the employee does not meet expectations, the company has not committed to a high salary. Signing bonuses are often used in professional sports, and to recruit graduates into their first jobs.