Signing bonus at the time of starting?

[PatNanym]

I am in fellowship and am planning to sign for a job 16 months in advance of start date. The employer is offering a $30k signing bonus plus a $15k total residency stipend (stipend is divided and paid monthly from the time of signing the contract to the start of the job). However, the employer says the signing bonus of $30k is given with my first paycheck and not at the time of signing. Is this common? Shouldn't signing bonuses be given at the time of signing and would it not defeat the purpose otherwise? Just wanted to see if this was common practice. Thank you.

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[Mehena]

It differs from organization to organization. Some give you upfront, some split and some dispense in aliquotes during the entire contract period. I.e in 3 years etc.

You have more leverage than they like to admit, thus ask and shall be granted.

The real question is the income tax ramifications now versus later as they are usually taxed as supplemental income which is way more than your current poor fellows tax bracket.
Good luck!

 

[gritsngravy]

I'm in the same situation, and mine also is at time of first paycheck. Most of my co fellows that I've talked to are in the same situation (if they even got a signing bonus at all...).

 

[gutonc]

Paying a signing bonus at the time of onboarding/starting is pretty common. There are other ways to do it, and they may or may not be interested in doing it differently, but you'll never know unless you ask.

And the tax implications are a potential issue that you should look into. $30K on top of your first half year's attending income (plus half your last year's fellow salary) won't change your tax bracket. But it might while you're still a fellow.

 

[bobsmith]

Going up a tax bracket as a fellow would have still put me in an overall lower tax bracket than I am now as an attending so would have resulted in lower total taxes paid on that signing bonus. But yeah, everyone's tax situation is going to be different so worth looking into.

My experience + everyone else I know got their signing bonuses with the first paycheck.

I also hadn't heard of a residency stipend before - is this supposed to incentivize you to not ditch them for another job in the next 16 months?

 

[Mehena]

I also hadn't heard of a residency stipend before - is this supposed to incentivize you to not ditch them for another job in the next 16 months?

Also hadn't heared about it before the job contract signed for mentioned it. Apparently it has been used regularly to incentivise residents locked into prospective jobs in some high demand specialties. There was no extra clause attached to my 'residency stipend'(at least according to the contract lawyer) but sure was an extra impetus to sign the contract pronto and see the moolah coming.

 

[aafisahar]

try to structure it as a 0% loan contingent on whatever years of service, that way it's not taxed at a high rate.