pay freeze

noun [C] (also salary freeze, wage freeze)

Definition

› HR, WORKPLACE a situation in which a company stops increasing employees' pay because of financial difficulties: Union leaders are considering the company's proposals to change working hours, reduce overtime, or impose a pay freeze.

› ECONOMICS, GOVERNMENT a government policy of preventing pay increases in order, for example, to deal with inflation: The government are now proposing a pay freeze for public sector workers.

(Definition of pay freeze noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)