[backspace]

Usual practice in most companies. It protects them from exactly these sorts of things.

Most companies that have this agreement in place also have a similar agreement when joining the company that if you forego signing the exit agreement, you forego any outstanding debts owed to you by the company.

[creamyhorror]

So, basically, the company can dictate the exact debts in its exit agreement? And if you disagree, you forego all claims anyway?

This sounds a bit illogical, but I'm not a lawyer. Another poster said it wasn't the practice at all in his years of experience, so maybe your experience does not generalize well.

You're also making an assumption that such a contract was made in this case - and it clearly wasn't, since the Miso people acknowledged their mistake here. So the guy absolutely deserves the bonus payout, even if he didn't submit the administrative form to claim it while he was still there.

[mikeash]

Can an agreement signed when you start working really erase debt from agreement made after you started working? Seems like the second one would take precedence there.

There's also the question of labor laws. I bet this is considered wages under the law and probably impossible to sign away.