7 Industrial relations

the workforce, the labour force (C)

total number of people who are employed by a particular company, total of number of people in a country or region available for work

manpower (U)

a means for producing goods, in contrast to machines & equipment

the staff (C), the personnel (a member of staff, an employee)

people who work for an organisation

blue collar

manual workers

a worker

employee who has no responsibility for managing the business

a hand, a labourer

person who does hard physical work, e.g. digging or carrying bricks or in a factory

a workman

a man whose job involves manual work

shopfloor (U)

cover term for workers

an executive

sb who's employed by a business at a senior level & decide what the business should do & ensure that it's done

a managing director

most important working director & is in charge of the way the company is managed

the board (of directors)

people who control & direct organization

a chairman/woman/person (BrE), a president (AmE)

head of a company

to promote sb

when sb's given a more important job in the organization they work for & are paid more money

to upgrade sb/sth

job or status is changed so that the person becomes more important or receives more money

a fee

money paid for professional advice or service

wages, pay (U)

money that's paid each week (usu in cash) for the work that they do

a salary (C), pay (U)

money that employees doing other than manual or mechanical work are paid each month (usu directly into bank account)

a pay slip

a piece of paper given to an employee at the end of week or month, which states how much money they've earned & how much tax, national insurance… has been deducted

a rise (C), a raise (C) (AmE)

pay increase

an allowance

money that's given regularly to sb in order to help them pay for the things they need in a particular situation

before taxes, gross

total amount of money he receives before deduction of tax

a position, a post, a job

not usu manual work but a position involving some degree of responsibility

a vacancy, an opening

a job that's available & which people can apply for

to employ sb, to engage sb, to hire sb, to take sb on

pay sb to do a particular job for you

to dismiss sb (a dismissal), to fire sb, to sack sb

the employer tells the employer being dismissed that they are no longer needed to do the job that they have been doing because your work is probably not good enough or you've done sth that they don't like

to resign, to quit, to give sth up, to leave, to vacate sth

you state you don't want to continue doing it & so you leave it

redundancy (redundant, BrE), a layoff (C) (to lay sb off)

a worker is being dismissed because he's no longer needed for any available job

unemployment (U) (the unemployed), employment (U) (an employer, an employee)

the state of being without a job, but also the number of people in a country or area who do not have jobs

unemployment benefit (U, BrE), the dole (BrE, informal)

the money that sb receives from the state when they are unemployed

a (trade) union

an organization by workers which represents their rights & has the aim of improving such things as the working conditions, pay & benefits of its members

collective bargaining (U)

talks that a trade union has with an employer & which are intended to settle what the workers' pay or conditions should be

a strike (C) (to strike)

workers who refuse to continue working, usu because they're demanding more pay or better conditions, or because they're protesting about sth

industrial action (U)

any action undertaken by a group of workers to persuade the management to accede to their wishes

to work nine to five

when you have a standard office job with normal working hours

shift work (U), the night/day shifts (to work shifts)

when you work a specified period of time & are then relieved by another group of workers - another shift - who take over

part-time

when you only work part of the day or the week

overtime (U)

you work more hours per day or week than you normally expected to

temporary employment/work (U)

when you have a contract for a limited period of time

a temp (to temp)

a person who's employed by an agency & sent out to work as a replacement for a regular employee

on-the-job training (U)

learning the job while you are working