48

How Much Are You Worth?

Complete the text with the right form of the missing words. If
necessary, consult the GLOSSARY
Did you know that there are several words commonly used to 1. ________________ monetary
compensation people receive to do a job?
2. _____________ is the most general word and it
refers to the total amount of money that a company pays for work or services performed, regardless of whether its paid to full-time, parttime employees, or 3. ______________. A paycheck
is a bank check given as salary or 4. __________.
Also, paycheck is often used guratively to denote the amount of money you made. For
example, you could say: Even if youre doing all
you can to save money, you can stretch your
paycheck only so far.
On the other hand, a wage (or more commonly
wages) is a payment for labor or services to a
worker, especially 5. ______________ on an hourly or daily basis, or by the piece. In other
words, if you 6. __________ workers to do a particular number of hours of work, or produce a

number of items, then you pay them wages. Most

often, wages are paid for manual labor, and not
for professional services. It is also useful to know
that 7. _______________ wage is the lowest wage
payable to employees in general (so it includes
wages and salaries), and it is determined by law
or by union 8. _______________.
The most common compensation for work is a
9. ____________, a xed amount periodically paid
to a person for regular work or services. Usually
a salary is paid monthly, although in some cases
it can be paid 10. ____________. Finally, in case
you hire a professional to do some work or perform a service for you, they usually charge a 11.
__________. For example, lawyers in private ofces can have a regular salary, but what they
charge you for their services is called a fee. Similarly, if your company hires a consultant to
resolve a particular issue, then the company pays
consultants fees. In this case the fees usually

cover all consultants expenses, and not only the

money the consultant earns for him or herself.
In summary, a companys 12. _______________ is
a list of employees receiving wages or salaries
with amounts due to each. Wages are primarily
paid to workers on hourly or daily basis, and a salary is a xed amount that does not depend on
the number of hours employees worked or the
number of items they produced, and it is paid
monthly. However, the term 13. _______________
wage refers to the average earnings in, for
example, a company, or a country, although it covers both salaries and wages. Finally, if you hire
a professional, like a lawyer, or a consultant, their
compensation is called a fee, while remuneration is general and very formal word referring to
all sorts of 14. ______________ compensation you
receive for your work including base salary, fees,
bonus and 15. ______________ earnings as well as
the 16. ______________ of a company car.

GLOSSARY

PRACTICE

to denote
pay
a contractor

Exercise 1 Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the following words: pay, wage, fee and salary.

oznaiti
plaa
vanjski izvoa posla
ek za isplatu plae; plaa kao novana doznaka; zaraea paycheck
ni novac
wage(s)
zarada po satu/danu ili proizvodu
salary
plaa
remuneration
novana naknada, plaa
to hire someone unajmiti; zaposliti nekoga
pay roll
platna lista
minimum wage minimalna plaa
average wage
prosjena plaa
union agreement sindikalni sporazum
biweekly
svaka dva tjedna
a fee
naknada, pristojba
monetary
novani
commission
provizija
benet
povlastica

1. Because of the law suit, last month we paid over 50,000 in lawyers ______________.
2. The minimum ______________ is far from enough for survival.
3. In some professions, the compensation is negotiable. However, most employers offer a xed
______________ to potential employees and they are rarely ready to negotiate.
4. Many manufacturers outsource parts of its business to reduce the overall cost of ______________ for
its employees.

Exercise 2 Translate the following sentences into English:.

1. Konzultantske usluge odlina su opcija za rjeavanje nekih problema, ali naknade za tu vrstu posla
mogu biti doista velike.
______________________________________________________________________________
2. U nekim zapadnim zemljama plae se isplauju svaka dva tjedna, ali u Hrvatskoj je uobiajeno da se
plae daju mjeseno.
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Prosjena plaa jedan je od pokazatelja ivotnog standarda u zemlji.
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Minimalna plaa prema sindikalnom sporazumu obino je vea od minimalne plae koju odreuje
vlada.
______________________________________________________________________________

KEY
Text: 1. 1.denote; 2. pay; 3. contractors; 4. wages; 5. remuneration; 6. hire; 7. minimum;
8. agreement; 9. salary; 10. biweekly; 11. fee; 12. pay roll; 13. average; 14. monetary;
15. commission; 16.benet
Exercise 1 1. fees; 2. wage; 3. salary; 4. pay
Exercise 2 1. Consultant services are an excellent option for solving particular problems, but fees for this type of work can be really high.; 2. In some western countries
salaries are paid biweekly, but in Croatia it is common to pay salaries monthly.; 3. Average wage is one of the indicators of standard of living in a country.; 4. Minimum wages
based on the union agreement are usually higher than minimum wages determined by
the government.