"We have never tried to incentive people into staying with golden handcuffs, " explains Russo.

FORBES: Private matters

As it stands, charter schools are trapped in the golden handcuffs of DB pension systems, just like teachers themselves are.

FORBES: Charter Schools, Pensions and Golden Handcuffs

The company has since tried to secure patents despite its golden handcuffs.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Everyone thinks that the job is the ultimate power when, in fact, the minute anyone steps into the office, they are fitted with a giant pair of golden handcuffs.

FORBES: Obama's Character And The Progressives Who Resent It

On the flip side, things like delayed bonuses and lucrative retirement or retrenchment packages serve as "golden handcuffs, " tying employees into a company when they might otherwise be tempted to seek new opportunities elsewhere.

WSJ: Corporate Image as Recruiting Tool

The merger between Glencore and Xstrata was finalised on 2 May after much delay, mainly due to opposition by Qatar Holdings, Xstrata's second largest shareholder, against the multi-million pound "golden handcuffs" plan to retain Xstrata's board members.

BBC: Xstrata logo

So he made a dramatic career switch, breaking free of Microsoft's golden handcuffs in 2003 and three years later starting a company called Fair Trade Sports, which makes balls for soccer, basketball, football and rugby using rubber cultivated in pesticide-free plantations in India and Sri Lanka.

FORBES: Companies, People, Ideas