Forced retention refers to the act of applying pressure to

employees Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any ot ...

to deter them from leaving a company. The most common way to do this is through legal means, such as

non-compete In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...

and

non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wis ...

s. Given an adequately broad agreement, a company may threaten employees who try to leave for competitors (or in some cases, non-competitors) with legal action. In some countries, the government may implement similar laws or policies to prevent or discourage employees from leaving certain companies or government organizations. It has also been applied to companies which offers significant financial benefits to employees to encourage them to stay, in particular after a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

(for example, a minimum period to qualify for

stock options In finance, an option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the ''holder'', the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified d ...

), but this usage is commonly considered incorrect. Forced retention is most commonly used by companies on the decline, or at least with limited growth prospects. Top employees will often join a small or mid-size company, with significant growth potentials. They will also often join financially stable companies, which can afford to provide employees with very good remuneration packages, and large amounts of freedom (for instance, in pure

R & D Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

departments). Once the company begins to decline, many of the top employees will want to leave for greener pastures, while the poor-performing employees (who may have a difficult time finding employment) will cling to their jobs, radically speeding the decline. Companies will occasionally implement forced retention policies to try to stem the brain drain. An example involves the

US military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. After invading

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

and Iraq, U.S. military resources were stretched. As a result, the military implemented a

stop-loss policy In the United States military, stop-loss is the involuntary extension of a service member's active duty service under the enlistment contract in order to retain them beyond their initial end of term of service (ETS) date and up to their contractual ...

, under which it could unilaterally extend a soldier's contract.

See also