[tylerhou]

The claim is that a high performing E5 will get good ratings, and there is enough comp overlap between levels that their pay will be in the same range has a meets E6. (At least, this was the official stance at Google.)

[mcbain]

The painful part is that if you at or near the top of the previous band it often means not a significant bump at promo time.

The top of the new band is much higher of course, but there isn't as much immediate payoff.

[UncleMeat]

Right. That is working as intended if you really are performing at the next level prior to your promo.