“Stealing” from you is a very confrontational view of the situation.

In any negotiated situation, both sides can usually give a bit more until they reach their limit. Maybe the employee could offer an extra few hours of focussed work and the employer can offer an extra 5% salary. That’s where the negotiation lands.

That can flex on either side as leverage and options move, but it’s just business.

The alternative is to nail everyone to the wall in every negotiation but that doesn’t seem constructive long term.