Episode 140

EPISODE 140
LEVEL A2

READING COMPREHENSION

Pay policy

Here are the rules regulating the pay system in our company. You will receive your wages on the 27th of each month. Your salary is paid one month in arrears.
Payments go directly into your bank account via direct deposit. Please make sure you complete the pay form with your bank details and give it to the payroll staff in the HR department in order to receive prompt payment.
If you are on the sales staff, you will also receive commission of 5% on every sale. This is payable with your monthly salary. If you sell more than $10,000 worth of products in one month, you will also receive a bonus of $500. This sum is held in the company account until the end of the fiscal year.
Overtime is paid 1.5 times your basic hourly rate. You will receive this rate for any work you do over 40 hours per week. At your annual evaluation, you will have the opportunity to discuss whether you can receive a raise with your supervisor.
It is not company policy to give advances on salary. The exception is in an employee’s first month of employment. Speak to someone in the payroll department if you want to take advantage of this offer.

 

Exercise 1

Find in the text and write down 12 expressions connected with “money”:

1. __________________________
2. __________________________
3. __________________________
4. __________________________
5. __________________________
6. __________________________
7. __________________________
8. __________________________
9. __________________________
10. __________________________
11. __________________________
12. __________________________

 

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences with these words:
pay / payment / payable / paid

1. How much did you _________________ for the tickets?
2. Please make your check _________________ to the Gates Foundation.
3. We usually ask for _________________ when you receive the goods.
4. It’s a nice job but the _________________ is extremely low.
5. I _________________ the driver in cash.
6. Most of these women are very poorly _________________ and they work in terrible conditions.

 

I know English idioms!

In this lesson’s text we once again read about money – the money we earn. Below you will find two more money-related idioms:

•  to put your hand in your pocket
  = to give money to someone or to charity (pogrzebać w kieszeni) People are more ready to put their hands in their pockets to help children.

 

• to grease somebody’s palm
  = to secretly give someone money to persuade them to do something for you (posmarować) We had to grease their palm to be sure that we get this contract.

 

• (to pay) in kind = in the form of goods or services and not money (w nature)
  She wouldn’t take any money but said I could pay her in kind by lending her the car.

 

Phrasals, phrasals…

As the subject of this lesson is money and paying, let’s study these two phrasal verbs with the word “pay”:

• The group is expected to sell its television assets to begin to pay down debts of almost $400m.
  “pay down (sth)” means pay part of an amount of money that you borrowed, reducing the total debt
• You can pay £500 down on the car now, and then pay £100 a month.
  “pay (sth) down” means pay part of the total cost of something when we buy it and the rest of the cost later, over a period of time

 

Grammar corner

This lesson’s reading text is quite rich in sentences with the modal structure “will (do)”

• You will receive your wages on the 27th of each month.
• You will receive this rate for any work you do over 40 hours per week.
  As we remember, “will” in this context expresses the future and a kind of promise, which is particularly important when we talk about the money that we WILL earn. 

 

GLOSSARY
pay – płaca
policy – polityka (np. firmy)
rule – zasada
regulating – regulujący
wages – płaca, też: tygodniówka
salary – pensja
paid in arrears – płacony z dołu
payment – płatność
directly – bezpośrednio
bank account – konto bankowe
direct deposit – bezpośrednia wpłata na konto
to make sure – pamiętać, upewnić się
to complete – wypełnić
pay form – formularz płacowy
payroll – lista płac
staff – personel
HR department – dział zasobów ludzkich
to receive – otrzymać
prompt – szybki
sale – sprzedaż
commission – prowizja
payable – płatny
worth – wartość
sum – suma
to be held – tu: być przechowywanym
fiscal year – rok podatkowy
overtime – nadgodziny
basic hourly rate – podstawowa stawka godzinowa
annual – (co)roczny
evaluation – ocena
to have the opportunity – mieć sposobność
raise – tu: podwyżka
advance (on salary) – zaliczka
exception – wyjątek
to take advantage of – wykorzystać, skorzystać z

 

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