Dear Bob ...In response to your recent post, "How long should a discipinary freeze last?" I think you missed the point of his question.His point was that if you are not included in the 4% this year, next year's 4% is based on a lower base salary, as will every raise thereafter (until promotion, I suppose), so missing one year's increase has a "permanent" effect, even if the employee gets raises thereafter.I look Dear Bob …In response to your recent post, “How long should a discipinary freeze last?” I think you missed the point of his question.His point was that if you are not included in the 4% this year, next year’s 4% is based on a lower base salary, as will every raise thereafter (until promotion, I suppose), so missing one year’s increase has a “permanent” effect, even if the employee gets raises thereafter. I look forward to your answer.– Need clarificationDear Clarifier … You’re right. Truth be told, I considered the question to be rhetorical given the tone of the rest of the inquiry.It’s like this: Had the employee received a minimal raise due to poor performance instead of no raise due to a disciplinary action, this wouldn’t be a question at all. “If I perform well next year, will you give me this year’s raise?”No. For companies that follow the structure I recommend, this is even less of a discussion point. For them, base compensation reflects marketplace value only, so there’s no freeze, no carry, no discussion. Your base comp depends on your skills, knowledge and experience relative to the position you currently hold.These companies use the annual bonus (variable compensation, also known as at-risk pay) to recognize performance. If someone is on the receiving end of disciplinary action, I think it’s reasonable to withhold a performance bonus. And since a performance bonus is, by definition, recognition of this year’s performance, again there’s no conversation about carry-over or make-up compensation.– Bob Powered by ScribeFire. Technology Industry