What it means
A hefty payout you get when you leave a job, especially if you’re being made redundant or some exec is getting quietly shown the door. The ‘handshake’ bit is the polite goodbye, the ‘golden’ bit is the big cheque attached. People often say it with a bit of side-eye, like someone’s being paid to disappear.
Usage examples
"Dave got a golden handshake, strutted round like Lord of Tesco. Fortnight later he’d bought a flash motor and still can’t use the self-checkout."
"The CEO walked away with a golden handshake of seven figures after the merger, the board called it a transition package, the cleaners on the third floor called it daylight robbery."
"When the steel mill closed in nineteen ninety-two, the senior managers got golden handshakes and quiet country cottages, the workers got six weeks notice and a job centre leaflet."
"They shut the branch, binned half the staff, and somehow the bloke at the top still floated off with a golden handshake and a golf membership."
"So let me get this straight, she tanks the project, leaves on Friday, and Monday we're meant to clap because her golden handshake was 'part of the agreement'?"
Where it comes from
The phrase is well established in British business English by the 1960s, where it was used for generous severance deals given to senior staff leaving a company. From there it spread into politics and everyday workplace talk, usually with a raised eyebrow, for anyone getting paid nicely on the way out.
Editors of this term
Dew-Hopping Sprout Official watcher of this expression
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