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Comment by DarkShikari | Hacker News Reader

He cites the fact that Infinity Ward had a profit pool of $84 million to be paid to around 100 employees.

... which they avoided paying out by firing the relevant employees before the bonuses were due.

While that's despicable, if true, it's also partially up to employees to ensure that their work agreements don't do that. Unfortunately, human nature is to see bonuses as part of expected comp rather than upside to expected comp. If you're going to do that, you'd better make sure you've papered things up to protect yourself and get paid for the work you did. (And trust me, I've paid dearly to learn that lesson.)

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/108/1086448p1.html

Their work agreements didn't allow it, but Activision cheated them out of their bonuses anyways.

That's what lawsuits are for. Contracts can't always make people do what they should, but a good contract will mean you have grounds for legal action if necessary.

I'm pretty sure they are suing them, but it still means they won't see the money for 3-10 years.

Almost all professional employment in the US is characterized as at-will. How can someone get ensure their work agreement accounts for this prior to starting a job at one of these companies? Ask for a "you will not fire me prior to paying me a bonus" clause?

It seems to me that if a company in this situation wants to screw the employee, they will find a way.

Possibly: ownership of the IP only transfers upon final payment.

No, IP ownership transfers when your contract says it does. If you're a consultant and your contract says you transfer IP upon payment, then sure, that's the case. But if you're a salaried employee, then most likely you've signed something that stipulates that your product is a work-for-hire, and it becomes owned by your employer the moment you type it out.

So I suggested one kind of contract to write which would ensure payment of that sort, rather than the usual.

One possibility: If the employee is fired other than for cause (crime, fraud, etc.), then the employer will pay the employee a pro-rated bonus at the same time other employees get their bonuses.

This is sometimes negotiated in executive employment agreements, but I can't say I've seen it in rank-and-file agreements.

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