> All you can do is fight to get them the pay they deserve

You can also be honest with them so that they can make informed decisions for themselves. The best CTOs I've worked for have been honest people who give you the bad and the good news together.

> However its usually more like 2-4 weeks that the people in charge even know beforehand

I'm guessing you're not referring to public companies with significant revenue. There's almost always warnings well before the 2 week mark.