Earnings, rewards and benefits 1

Complete the first part of each word in bold in sentences 1 – 34 with the second part in
the box.

-an
b -ancev -ance
v -ans
v -ary
v -ated -ation -ay -ble
v -ck
-count -ction
v -dancy
v -den -dex -diture
v -ears
v -ect
v -ement
v
-ensurate -eration
v -et -ge
v -ger -hting -imum
v -kage
v -ked
-lement -lf -mance
v -me -me -nus
v -ock
v -ome
v -osit
v -oss
v
-roll -se -shake -sion b -slip -te -time -tions v -tive
v -ub -ve

1. A wa ge is money that is normally paid to an employee on a weekly basis, and a sal ary is
money that is usually paid to an employee monthly on a regular basis.

2. Remun eration is the formal word for money that an employee receives for doing his/her job.

3. When we work for more than the normal working time, we say that we work (and therefore earn)
over use .

4. An automatic and regular increase in pay is called an incr ement .

5. Money that is removed from our earnings to pay for tax, national insurance, etc, is called a
dedu ction .

6. If we remove money from somebody's wages (for example, because they are late), we say that we
do their wages.

7. The min imum wage is the lowest hourly wage which a company can legally pay its employees.

8. Time for which work is paid at twice the normal rate (for example, on national holidays) is called
dou ble ti .

9. An employee who receives his/her normal rate of pay, + 50% extra (for example, by working later
than normal or during unsocial hours) is said to earn ti and a ha lf .

10. A pen sion pl an helps people to save money for when they retire from work.

11. When you want more money for the work you do, you might ask your boss for a ri .

12. If an employee needs some of his/her wages paid before the usual pay day, he / she might ask for
an adv ance (known informally as a s ).

13. A pay shows an employee how much pay he/she has received, and how much has been
removed for tax, insurance, etc.

14. An extra payment made in addition to a normal payment (usually received by sales people for
selling more than their quota) is called a bo nus .

15. A pay is the list a company keeps that shows all the people employed and paid by that
company.

16. A rewards pac kage is the money and other benefits offered with a job.

13
For reference see Dictionary of Business - 4th edition (A&C Black Publishers Ltd, 978-0-713-67918-2)
 17. A weig ting is an additional amount of money paid to an employee to compensate him/her
for living in an expensive area.

18. By law, British companies have to give their employees the right to take paid holidays: this is known
as lea entit .

19. Inc ome is another word for the money that people receive for working. The money that they
spend is known as expen diture .

20. Some companies offer their employees st ock op tion , which means that the employees
can buy stocks at a price lower than the normal price.
21. Some companies have incen tive pl ans , where they offer their employees extra rewards
and benefits for good attendance, increased productivity, etc.
22. The amount of money an employee receives each hour, day, week, etc, is known as an hourly / daily
/ weekly ra te .

23. If an employee loses his / her job because the company doesn't need or can't afford to keep
him/her, they might receive redun dancy p ackage .
24. Some companies offer their employees a dis on the product and services they sell, which
means that the employee can buy them for less than the usual price.

25. If an employee takes a job in another town or city which is a long way from his / her original home
and place of work, he/she might be offered a reloc ated allow ance .

26. Extra money paid to employees who work in jobs where there is a risk of personal injury is called
dan er money.

27. Gr oss is an adjective used to describe an employee's earnings before tax, national insurance,
etc, have been removed.

28. N is an adjective used to describe an employee's earnings after tax, national insurance,
etc, have been removed.

29. When the money that an employee receives rises automatically by the percentage increase in the
cost of living, we say that it is in -lin .

30. When the money that an employee earns is based on age, experience, qualifications, position in the
company, etc, we say that it is comm .

31. Wages are normally paid in arr ears , which means that they are paid at the end of the
working period (for example, at the end of the week or month that the employee has worked).

32. When an employer pays an employee his/her wages directly into his/her bank account, we say that
it is paid by dir ect dep osit .

33. Some wages and salaries are perfor mance rel ated . This means that the money that an
employee receives will be based on how well he/she carries out their duties.

34. When an employee leaves his/her job after a long period with the company, he/she might be offered
a large amount of money known as a gol hand .

Also see Earnings, rewards and benefits 2 on the next page

14
For reference see Dictionary of Business - 4th edition (A&C Black Publishers Ltd, 978-0-713-67918-2)
 Earnings, rewards and benefits 2

Complete the text with appropriate words and expressions from the box. The first one has
been done for you.

acceptance bonus attendance bonus basic benefits commissions

Rewards for work fall into two main groups.

The first, and in many opinions the most important, is that of 1. direct or 2. indirect
rewards. These are real, material rewards, and include 3. basic pay (a guaranteed wage or
salary paid by the hour, or on a weekly or monthly basis), and 4. performance pay, which is linked to
relate
how well an employee or a group of employees works. This includes 5. commission - money paid
to a salesperson or group of salespeople which is usually a percentage of the sales made. Some
companies also offer 6. recognition pay, usually given only to individual employees who work
particularly well, or who make a significant contribution to the company. 7. gainsharing , which is
similar to this, is extra money paid to a group or company for increased productivity, and is often
offered in order to increase 8. motivation : it is also sometimes known as a 9.production bonus. If an
employee takes less than the standard time to finish a task, s/he might receive a 10. premium bonus.
Some employers also offer an 11. attendance bonus for employees who are very rarely absent from work.
If an employer is particularly keen to recruit somebody, they might offer him / her an
profit sharing
12. acceptance bonus
when s/he agrees to join the organisation. 13. , the practice of dividing
profits among the employees, is another reward which is often offered.

In addition to payment, other rewards may be offered. These include 14. benefit (known
informally as 15. extras ) such as a company car, 16. pensions , free meals, 17. share
option schemes, holidays, health 18. insuranceand 19. duvet days
(a new concept, especially common in the USA, in which an employee can call their office and say
they do not feel like coming to work even though they are not ill). Benefits are usually 20. fixed
, which means that the employee is not able to choose what s/he gets, but some companies offer
21. flexible benefits, where the employee can choose from a menu of benefits on offer. 22. incentive
plans, which offer employees increased rewards and benefits for good attendance, behaviour and
productivity are becoming increasingly common.

The second group of rewards are 23. indirect or 24. direct . These are non-material, and
include 25. status (people enjoy being in an important position or a position of authority), job
26. satisfaction , the opportunities for personal 27. development , the chance to learn a new
28. skill , and career 29. developmentopportunities. Safety and 30. security at work can
also be included in this group, and for most employees, 31. comradeship (being with a group of
people you like and get on with) is also a very important reward.

15
For reference see Dictionary of Business - 4th edition (A&C Black Publishers Ltd, 978-0-713-67918-2)