Corporations, businesses even small businesses have figured out how not to give you a pay raise but still be able to reward their hardest, most productive workers. Give out bonus pay instead of a pay raise. Oftentimes you do not know what your co-workers earn but now more than ever your co-workers, especially those that are the best performers and hardest workers in the workplace, may be sworn to secrecy from letting their co-workers know that they receive bonus pay instead of a pay raise.
Bonus pay is easier to justify because it is based on performance and giving out bonus pay instead of pay raises save businesses and corporations huge sums of money in the long run because the bottom line is if you are a mediocre performer in the workplace then you are not needed and can easily be replaced. Furthermore, if an employee does not perform above and beyond what the company expects of them day after day, week after week, year after year then no more bonus pay. Bonus pay is always based on performance and hard work as seen through the eyes and ears of company management.
The incentive is if you want to earn more than those who work around you then always try to work harder and perform better than your co-workers. It may pay off for you since a pay raise is a relatively permanent expense while bonus pay is not always permanent and can come and go with how successful a company is earning revenues.
SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AMERICA TV NEWS 9/23/13