Learn the vocabulary in English to talk about the many changes that take place in a company or organization :
'to streamline' = to improve the effectiveness of parts of an organization, often by simplifying procedures.
We are streamlining the procedure to cut the time it takes to deliver to the customer.
Streamlining administration and giving more responsibility to individuals will reduce costs considerably.
'to relocate' = to move to a new place
Production is being relocated to Bulgaria next year creating lots of redundancies here.
My company paid all the costs when I was relocated to my previous job in Scotland.
'to relax' = to make a rule less strict or severe.
Unfortunately we can't relax the no-smoking ban. The law won't permit it.
We have relaxed the dress code considerably and now people often wear jeans to the office.
'to enforce' = to impose a rule more strictly or to make people follow a rule.
For health and safety reasons, we have to enforce the no-smoking rules.
It is extremely difficult to enforce time-keeping rules without some form of electronic system.
'to adjust' = to change something a little to make it correct or suitable.
We are adjusting the salary scales so that they reflect present responsibilities better.
Salaries are adjusted annually according to the rate of inflation and the financial results.
'to reduce' = to make smaller in size, quantity or importance.
We have reduced the number of workers with the introduction of more modern technology.
In order to reduce expenditure in the department, we have introduced several cost-cutting measures.
'to deteriorate' = to become worse
Morale has deteriorated since the rumours of closure began.
Sales figures have continued to deteriorate despite the launch of the latest version.
'to downsize' = to make a company or organization smaller by reducing the number of people working for it.
The organization has a plan to downsize in order to reduce costs.
Many organizations downsized during the 1980s when new technologies were introduced.
'to phase in' = to introduce something in stages over a period of time
The changes in pay scales will be phased in over the next three years.
The new organization will be phased in gradually starting here in head office.
'to phase out' = to remove or stop doing something gradually over a period of time.
That line of products has been phased out and replaced by the new range.
It has taken us six months to phase out the old software and introduce the new.
Time off
Learn the vocabulary to talk about being absent from jobs in English:
to take time off = to be absent from work, at home or on vacation.
I'm going to take a few days off to visit my parents.
I'm taking Monday off to go to the dentist and do some jobs at home.
to take a vacation = to take time away from work, especially when you travel for pleasure.
I'm taking my vacation next month. We're going to Spain.
I have to take my vacation during the school holidays because of my children.
to take a sabbatical = to take time away from work to study or travel, usually while continuing to be paid.
He's on a sabbatical while he does his MBA. He'll be back next month.
She's on a sabbatical from her job while she does research for her thesis.
to take unpaid leave = to have an authorized absence from work but without salary.
She's taken some unpaid leave while she moves house.
I don't have any paid holiday left so I'd like to take unpaid leave.
to be off sick= to be absent from work due to illness.
When you are off sick, you must provide a doctor's note.
He has been off sick for a few days now. I think he'll be back at work on Monday.
To be on sick leave = the time that you can be absent from work, often while being paid part or all of your salary.
She is having an operation and so will be on sick leave for the next two months.
When you are on sick leave prescribed by your doctor, you get paid your full salary for the first three months.
maternity leave = the period a mother is legally authorised to be absent from work before and after the birth of a child.
Her maternity leave finishes next week but she is not coming back to work.
Statutory maternity leave is paid for up to 26 weeks and can start 11 weeks before the baby is due.
parental leave = the time that a parent is allowed to spend away from work to take care of their baby.
He has taken parental leave to look after the baby while his wife returns to work.
You have to work for an employer for one year to qualify for parental leave to look after your children.
statutory sick pay = the money paid by a company to an employee who cannot work due to illness.
If you are absent from work due to illness, you may be able to claim sick pay.
To claim sick pay, you have to have medical certificate from your doctor stating that you are unable to work.
a public holiday = a day when almost everybody does not have to go to work (for example in the US July 4th or January 1st).
We have 25 days paid holiday plus 10 public holidays.
When there is a public holiday on a Thursday, many people take the Friday off too.
Pay
'Pay' is money that you get from your employer, either as a wage or as a salary.
What are the pay and conditions for the job?
Pay rates in the industry are very poor.
'Back pay' is money owed to you by your employer for work done in the past which has not yet been paid.
I'm still owed 3 months back pay for the overtime I did before Christmas.
The company cannot afford to give you the back pay it owes you.
A 'pay cut' is a reduction in the amount of pay you are given.
We are asking you all to accept a pay cut of 10% to keep the company going.
He has the stark choice of accepting a pay cut or losing his job.
A 'pay rise' is an increase in pay.
We are looking for a pay rise in line with inflation.
I'm going to ask my boss for a pay rise.
A 'pay rate' is the amount per hour (or some other period) that you pay.
The pay rate is $12 an hour.
The industry cannot attract good quality workers because of the low pay rates.
'Net pay' is the amount earned after deductions (usually for social security and pensions and perhaps for tax.)
The gross pay is $12 an hour but net pay is only $9.50 an hour.
He said he is only earning $5 an hour but that is his net pay, not his gross.
'Equal pay' means that men and women get the same pay for doing the same job.
The women workers are asking for equal pay with the men.
In this country, if you don't give the women equal pay, you could go to jail.
An 'itemized pay statement'contains a detailed breakdown of the pay you have earned and the deductions taken from it.
The bank want me to give them my itemized pay statements for the last six months.
The law states that employees must receive itemized pay statements.
'Performance-related pay' is where the amount you are paid depends on the quality/quantity of your work.
Since we introduced performance-related pay, production has doubled.
They may need the incentive of performance-related pay.
A 'pay scale' is a range of different pay rates which people will receive depending on various factors (e.g. their grade in the company, their qualifications, their years in the company.)
We have six grades on our pay scale. You will start on the bottom one.
Perhaps we need to change our pay scale to take account of the loyalty people have shown us?
Pay 2
We all go to work to earn money. Let's look at more vocabulary to talk about our salaries:
'gross salary'is the salary before anything is deducted for contributions and tax.
Her gross salary is £50 000 but obviously she takes home considerably less than that.
He earns £40 000 a year gross.
'net salary' is the salary that you are paid after deductions have made
My gross salary is around £60 000 but the net is around £48 000.
The net salary is the gross salary minus the deductions the employer makes for contributions and tax.
'deductions' are payments made by the employer for an employee to health and pension schemes based on the gross salary.
Although my gross salary seems good, after deductions, I haven't very much left.
The details of the deductions are on your pay statement. You can see what you are paying.
'income tax' is the tax which is paid on the money you earn.
In the UK, income tax is deducted directly from your salary and paid to the state.
In some countries, you have to complete an income tax return annually to calculate the tax to be paid.
'rate' is the amount you are paid per hour, week or month of work.
I don't know what the standard rate is for this type of work.
Some people are paid on piece rate. They are paid by their output, not by the time it takes.
The 'basic state pension' is the money paid on retirement to everyone who has paid contributions for the required number of years.
Although I contribute to the state pension fund, I also pay into a private one too.
The basic state pension is very low, too low for a decent standard of living.
The'national minimum wage' is the minimum an employee can be paid per hour of work.
Everyone here is paid a rate that is better than the minimum wage.
The national minimum wage varies according to age. Young people are paid less than adults.
The 'equal pay' law states that employers must pay the same to men and women who are doing the same or similar jobs.
Equal pay for women is the law but many are still paid less than their male colleagues.
Each year, there are many cases where women take their employer to court to fight for equal pay.
'overtime' is a higher rate of pay for working more than the usual hours or unsocial hours.
When I work on Sundays, I am paid overtime.
I do a lot more hours than in my contract but I don't get paid overtime.
A 'bonus' is an extra amount of money paid as a reward on top of your fixed salary.
We usually get a bonus at Christmas depending on how well the company has done.
Every year, usually in January, we receive a bonus. It is a discretionary bonus related to your performance.
Pay 3
More vocabulary on the important topic of money:
'commission' is paid to people in sales based on the amounts of goods sold.
Working here I get paid a fixed salary and commission based on my sales.
I get paid a commission on the deals I negotiate.
People who are 'hourly paid' are paid a fixed rate for each hour that they work and not a fixed salary for a year or task.
He isn't a salaried employee, he is hourly paid.
For everyone who is hourly paid, wages are paid weekly.
'benefits' are the extras that you are given by your employer on top of your salary. These may include private health insurance, a private pension, company car.
Although my gross salary is not high for the sector, I get a lot of extra benefits.
He has a very good benefits package including a car and private health insurance.
A'taxable benefit' is a benefit which is considered as part of your income and therefore included in the income to be declared for tax.
The value of the company car is included in my income. It is a taxable benefit.
Meals in the canteen, drinks and parking are generally not taxable benefits.
'expenses' are the costs that you incur doing your job that are reimbursed by the company, notably for travel.
When I travel, I pay for my tickets and hotels and then claim my expenses back.
The company is very strict about expenses. We can't spend more than a certain amount on hotels or meals.
In order to claim expenses, you must keep all 'receipts'for payments you have made.
On the 30th of the month, we hand in all our receipts for our expenses.
When I take someone to lunch I always have to get a receipt so that I'll be reimbursed.
If you use your own car to travel to another location for your work, you may be able to claim 'mileage' ands be reimbursed a fixed rate per mile travelled to cover the cost.
It is better for the company to pay mileage than provide company cars.
There is a fixed rate for mileage depending on the size of the car.
a 'pay review' is when salaries are considered for changes.
The unions are preparing for the negotiations in the annual pay review.
A lot of changes to pay grades are being considered during the pay review. When the company closed the branch, the redundancy pay was very generous.
'redundancy pay' is given if you lose your job and are made redundant. This is usually related to the time you have worked for the company.
When I lost my job, I used my redundancy pay to set up my own company.
When the company closed the branch, the redundancy pay was very generous.
'notice', specified in the terms of your contract, is the time worked between telling your employer that you are leaving your job and actually leaving.
I have to work out two months notice before I can start my new job.
When I left, I was paid my notice but I didn't have to work it.
Pay 4
More vocabulary on the important topic of money. This time, we look at what you receive when you are unable to work in a typical country within the European Union:
When you are ill and unable to work, you may claim statutory sick pay. This is the minimum by law.
If you have a work contract, you can claim statutory sick pay from your first day of work.
When I was ill, I claimed statutory sick pay which was much less than my salary.
The time that the doctor signs you off for is the period of that you cannot work.
The doctor has signed me off for two weeks.
I was off sick but the doctor didn’t sign me off until the second week.
When you are off work, to claim sick pay, you must provide a sick note from your doctor.
The doctor gave me a sick note to give to my employer.
If you want to claim sick pay, you must see your doctor for a sick note.
When you are no longer able to work through illness, you can claim incapacity benefitto replace your salary.
He will not be able to return to work and should now claim incapacity benefit.
Stress has now replaced back pain as the main reason that people are unable to work and claim incapacity benefit.
An employer can pay occupational sick pay, that is pay more than the minimum sick pay for a certain time depending on the terms of contract.
I haven't worked here long enough, so I don’t qualify for occupational sick pay.
In some companies, occupational sick pay makes up your full salary for up to one month.
The minimum period of service is the time you have to have worked before you qualify for occupational sick pay.
There is no minimum period of service to qualify for statutory sick pay.
The minimum period of service to qualify for occupational sick pay is three months.
If you also qualify for occupational sick pay, you may be off on full pay.
I have excellent fringe benefits. If I am off sick, I am on full pay for one month.
Unfortunately I am not on full pay now as I have been off work too long.
When a woman is expecting a baby, she can take maternity leave and have maternity pay.
I can take twenty-six weeks leave with maternity pay and twenty six weeks unpaid.
To qualify for maternity pay, I have to have worked for twenty-six weeks for my employer when I am expecting my baby.
If a father wishes to stop work to help with a new born child, he may qualify for paternity pay while he is absent from his job.
After twenty-six weeks working here, you can take two weeks leave with paternity pay.
To qualify for paternity pay, leave must be taken when the child is born or very soon after.
