Crop up like a pay increase (5)
I believe the answer is:
arise
'crop up' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'a pay increase' is the wordplay.
'pay increase' becomes 'rise' (I've seen this before).
'a'+'rise'='ARISE'
'like' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for arise that I've seen before include "Get up or come up" , "Originate; get up" , "Turn up" , "Crop up" , "W B Yeats: 'I will . . . . . and go now'" .)