[chrisbennet]

The cap is crap of course. That is just their mechanism to avoid paying market.

One of the reasons that is hard to get raises is that employers find it hard to adjust their perception of your new worth once you "level up". You may be a brain surgeon now but to them, you're still the kid who used to mow their lawn.

It is quite possible that you might not be worth the same to them as you would to another company i.e. market.

You may not have a future there if you want to get paid what you are worth. :-(