Just for clarity with standard terminology, "4 year with 1 year cliff" usually means 4 year vesting, with 25% vesting at the end of the first year. Thus, it's 0% for the first year, then 25% immediately at the beginning of the second year, and then 1/48th of the total grant for each of the next 36 months.

4/1 is basically the silicon valley standard.

Usually you get the next increment on leaving (i.e. if you leave mid-month, you get the vest for that month), and often if you leave before a year (but after doing stuff, and amicably), you get some portion of the first 25% -- letting someone go after 11mo just to avoid the cliff is usually not done. If someone turns out to have been a bad hire after a month, it's more likely to just let him go and stick with the minimum terms of the contract (i.e. nothing).

IMO if you can't trust the management of the company, you shouldn't work there anyway. You should have contractual terms which are mutually acceptable, but it's almost always possible for an employer to exceed or fail to meet those terms, with limited recourse for most employees.

Well, that's why I asked the question in the first place, here, and I haven't been disappointed with the excellent advice and points from others.