Your client wants to ensure that planners justify their decision to NOT give an employee...

When planners need to provide a reason for not awarding a merit increase, this can be enforced through standard validation rules.

Setting a Force Comment Rule with "No-Raise" Mode

In SuccessFactors Compensation, under theDefine Standard Validation Rulessection, you can set aForce Comment Rulewith the mode set to “no-raise.” This triggers a required comment whenever a planner decides not to give a merit increase.

This is a straightforward way to enforce explanations for no-raise situations, leveraging standard settings.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect

Option B is incorrect because custom validation formulas are not necessary for this type of forced comment.

Option C (comp-force-comment-config tag with mode “guideline”) is unrelated to no-raise situations.

Option D (setting mode to "raise") is incorrect as this would trigger comments for raises, not for when no raise is given.

Reference Documentation

SAP SuccessFactors Compensation Guide onForce Comment Rules.