And on top of that, the way it is 'distributed' and handled places unhealthy pressures on the forced recipient.
Mostly around the length (AFAIK longer than even startup or amazon RSUs) and the initial accessibility. You shouldn't try to prey on your own employees desperation or potential lack of knowledge.
This bonus, per the thread, has to be accepted for a candidate to get a job offer and has unclear implications for when a worker may leave.
In this case it is closest to a 'signing bonus' or stipend as some professional school trainees get in the final years of their training before they begin a job.
This situation has no widely-known parallel in the normal corporate world for office labor.
> Because it's a loan, if you -do- survive employment through the term, guess what, you now have to pay tax on the 'forgiven loan'.
Did you have a point to make here? Do you think you don't have to pay income taxes on bonuses?