That's actually a really good idea. Reuse an already common tool to reinforce what you want. If you stay here longer than your 4 year cliff we'll refresh you at 1.5x the last schedule. That's about what a company would end up dumping into a person's salary who is tenured anyway.

There's also the military approach where you either get promoted or you are out. Languishing isn't really allowed as an option.

If a job/task only requires entry level skills, why are senior employees doing them?

Isn't that what Netflix does - or at least doesn't really permit for having an off-year?

Not at all. In fact, Netflix didn't even have levels until very recently. When I worked as a management consultant, about half of people left the company every two years at each promotion gate. Netflix's turnover was far, far lower.

This is often called up or out, too. Many/ most consulting companies do it.