Definition

Noun: A wage freeze is an official policy or action by an employer, government, or other authority to stop any increases in the amount of money paid to workers for their labor. All wages are held at their current level for a specified period.

Usage

A wage freeze is typically implemented as an economic measure to control inflation, reduce company costs during financial difficulty, or stabilize an economy. It is a temporary halt to raises, cost-of-living adjustments, and merit-based increases.

Examples

• The company announced a wage freeze for all employees next fiscal year due to declining profits.
• To combat high inflation, the government imposed a nationwide wage freeze.
• The union agreed to a one-year wage freeze in exchange for greater job security.

Advanced Usage

• "to implement/impose a wage freeze": To officially put a wage freeze into effect.
  • The new management had to impose a wage freeze to avoid layoffs.
• "to be subject to a wage freeze": To be affected by the policy.
  • All public sector workers were subject to the wage freeze.

Variants and Related Words

• Hiring freeze (n): A policy of not filling vacant positions.
• Price freeze (n): A policy of preventing prices from rising.
• Freeze (n/verb): As a noun, a stoppage or fixed level (e.g., a freeze on hiring). As a verb, to hold at a current level.

Synonyms

• Pay freeze
• Salary freeze
• Pay pause

Antonyms

• Wage increase
• Pay raise
• Salary hike

Noun

1. a freeze of wages at a given level