People and workplace

The poeple who work for a company, all the people on its payroll, are its employee, personnel, staff, workers or workforce. But these words can mean just the poeple carrying out the work of a company, rather that those leading it and organizing it: the management

Note: Workforce, work-force and work force are all possible.

Words

payroll /ˈpeɪrəʊl $ -roʊl/ n.

[uncountable] the activity of managing salary payments for workers in a company

the payroll department

[countable, uncountable] the total amount of wages paid to all the people working in a particular company or industry

The annual payroll was $88 million.

on the payroll

if someone is on the payroll of company, they are empolyed by that company

I was on the payroll until May 31.

employee /ɪmˈplɔɪ-iː, ˌemplɔɪˈiː/ ★★★ S2 W2 n. SYN worker

[countable] someone who is paid to work for someone else

The company gave a bonus to all employees.

personnel /ˌpɜːsəˈnel $ ˌpɜːr-/ ★★☆ W3 n.

[uncountable] the department in a company that chooses people for jobs and deals with their complaints, problems etc SYN human resources

A copy should then be sent to Personnel for our files.

[plural] the people who work in a company, organization, or military force

All personnel are to receive security badges.

staff /stɑːf $ stæf/ ★★★ S2 W2 n.

[countable, uncountable] the people who work for an organization

They recruit 1,000 staffs for this concert.

worker /ˈwɜːkə $ ˈwɜːrkər/ ★★★ S2 W1 n.

[usually plural] someone who works in an organization and who is not a manager

attacks on workers’ rights

[countable] someeone who does a job, especially a particular type of job

workers in the tourist industry

workforce /ˈwɜːkfɔːs $ ˈwɜːrkfɔːrs/ ★☆☆ n. SYN work-force, work force

[singular] all the people who work in particular industry or company, or are available to work in a particular country or area

Women now represent almost 50% of the workforce.

management /ˈmænɪdʒmənt/ ★★★ S1 W1 n.

[singular, uncountable] the people who are in charge of a company or organization

The management has agreed to the policy

[uncountable] the activity of controlling and organizing the work that a company or organization does

good management and co-operation with staff

Additional words

white-collar worker

[countable] a worker who works in managemnet or administration, rather than one who does physical work

The overall cost-cutting effort will alrgely affect white-collar workers

manual/blue-collar worker

a worker who does physical work, rather than work in management or administration

The company hopes to reduce back injuries amongst its manual/blue-collar workers

supervisor /ˈsuːpəvaɪzə $ -pərvaɪzər/ ★☆☆ n.

[countable] someone who supervises a person or activity

You are a supervisor of a company security department.

supervise /ˈsuːpəvaɪz $ -pər-/ ★☆☆ v. vt.

to be in charge of an activity or person, and make sure that things are done in the correct way

shop floor n.

[singular] the area in a factory where the ordinary workers do their work

The chairwoman started her working life on the shop floor.

labour ★★☆ S3 W3 n. AmE labor

BrE [uncountable] all the poeple who work for a company or in a country

We need to reduce our labour costs.

[uncountable] work, especially physical work

Many women do hard manual labour.

head office n. SYN headquarters

[countable] the main office of a company

By Monday, he was back at head office orchestrating the move.

headquarters /ˈhedˌkwɔːtəz, ˌhedˈkwɔːtəz $ -ɔːrtərz/ ★★☆ W3 n.

[countable] the main building of offices used by a large comkpany or organization

abbreviation HQ

the headquarters of the United Nations

open-plan adj

BrE an open-plan office, school etc does not have walls dividing it into separate rooms

Recently refurbished, the lounge-bar and dining-room are open-plan and the food served is simple

administrative /ədˈmɪnəstrətɪv $ -streɪtɪv/ ★★☆ W3 adj.

relating to the work of managing a company or organization

The administrative costs of health care systems

administrative staff n. SYN support staff

employees whose work is helping a company or organization to operate, for example technical or administrative workers.

Our technical support staff will talk ou through any hardware or software difficulty.

technical support n. SYN tech support

the department of a company that provides help with using computers

Maybe you’d better try calling tech support

[uncountable] help or imformation that you receive to improve a computer program or system, make it continue working, or use it correctly

Labour

labor union n. BrE trade union

AmE an organization that represents the ordinary workers in a particular trade or profession, especially in meetings with employers

industrial action n.

BrE [uncountable] an action such as a strike(=stopping work) taken by workers involved in a disagreement with their employer

• a strike, stoppage, walk-out : workers stop working for a time
• a go-slow : workers continue to work, but more slowly than usual
• an overtime ban : workers refuse to work more than the normal number of hours

normal number of hours

hours that someone spends usually

human resources department(=HRD)

a department deals with pay, recruitment, etc

human resources management(=HRM)

the work of employing, training, and helping the people who work in an organization

The human resources management policies of Japanese firms created well-trained workforces committed to the company’s amis.

It is the end of this time : )