UNIT IV

PAY AND BENEFITS

A. READING

Starting point
11. Have you ever worked?
12. What company do you work for?
13. Are you satisfied with the salary?

Text 1

Wages, salary and benefit

My name’s Luigi and I’m a hotel manager in

Venice. I get paid a salary every month. In
summer we’re very busy, so work a lot of extra

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hours, or overtime; the money for this is quite
good. Working in a hotel, we also get nice perk,
for example free meals!

I’m Ivan and I work as a waiter in Prague. I like

my job even if I don’t earn much money: I get
paid wages every week by the restaurant. We get
the minimum wage: the lowest amount allowed
by law. But we also get tips, money that
customers leave for us in addition to the bill.
Some tourists are very dangerous!

I’m Catherine and I’m a sales woman based in

Paris. I get a basic salary, plus commission: a
percentage on everything I sell. If I sell ore than
a particular amount in a year, I also get extra
money- a bonus, which is nice. There are some
good fringe benefits with this jobs: I get a
company car, and they make payments for my
pension, money that I’ll get regularly after I stop
working. All that makes a good benefit
packages.

Text 2

Compensation 1

My name’s Alan. I’m a specialist in pay and

benefits. Compensation and remuneration are
formal words used to talk about pay and benefits,
especially those of senior managers.
Compensation package and remuneration

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 package are used especially in the US to talk
about all the pay and benefits that employees
receive. For a senior executive, this may include
share options (Br E) or stock options (Am E):
the right to buy the company’s shares at low
prices. There may be performance-related
bonuses if the manager reach particular
objectives for the company.

Compensation 2

Compensation is also used to talk about money

and other benefits that a senior manager (or any
employee) receives if they are forced to leave the
organization, perhaps after a boardroom row.
This money is in the form a boardroom row.
This money is in the form of a compensation
payment, or severance payment. If the manager
also receives benefits, the payment and the
benefits form a severance package. In Britain,
executives with very high pay and good benefits
may be referred to as fat cats, implying that they
don’t deserve this level of remuneration

B. VOCABULARY
Exercise 1
Complete the following sentences using
the words given on the list

pension reject criticism advise

compensation legal action cause outrage
broke down set up bonus

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1. Large companies are not used to…………….. from
shareholders.
2. Negotiations …………….. after an hour because
they just couldn’t find a compromise.
3. We finally …………….. a subsidiary in Spain last
year.
4. Our senior managers receive …………..if the meet
their target.
5. The shareholders……………. The remuneration
committee’s findings.
6. The CEO lost his……….. demanding compensation
after the board of directors asked him to leave.
7. The consultants …………………the company not
to increase the CEO’s pay.
8. The new CEO negotiated a lavish……………
9. The ………………. decided not to offer a ‘golden
hello’
10. The newspapers always ……………. when large
companies make their executive pay deals public.

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences using the words in bold

from text 1.
1. X: I get paid every month.
Y: I see. You get ………………, not wages.

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Exercise 3
Complete the following text by the words given on
the list

Jennifer and Kathleen are businesswomen.

Jennifer has her own company in Britain and
Kathleen owns one in the US.

Jennifer: I’m waiting to ……………. (1) By some

of my customers. These are my ……………. (2) .
They …………………. (3) me money. The
…………. (4) and other organizations that I owe
money to are my …………… (5). I must remember
to pay…………. (6) to the inland revenue on time.
There are some companies that owe me money, but I
get the feeling I’m never going to be paid: They’re
…………………… (7) and I’ve written them off.

Kathleen: The customers that I’m waiting to be paid

by are my ………………… (8) or receivables. The
suppliers and other organizations that I
owe…………….. (9) to are my ……………….
(10). I must remember …………… (11) to the
Inland Revenue Service ……………… (12).

tax be paid owe creditors

debtors suppliers bad debts
on time money account receivable
to pay tax account payables

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 C. STRUCTURE

MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS

Types of modals

can, could, be able to, must, have to, had to, may,
might, will, would, shall, should, ought
to

Modal must be followed by the base form of verb.

For example:

She can speak any foreign languages.

Can you speak any foreign languages?
She is able to speak any foreign languages.
Are you able to speak any foreign languages?

Exercise 1

Complete the following sentences with the appropriate

modal.

1. I haven’t …………… sleep very well recently.

2. Tom ………………… drive, but he hasn’t got a car.
3. I can’t understand Martin. I’ve never ……………….
understand him.
4. I used to……………………. stand on my head but I
can’t do it now.
5. She can’t run very fast now but when she was at
school she ………………faster than anyone else.

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 6. “What shall we do this evening?”.
“We……………………. go to the cinema”.
7. When you go to New York, you
……………………… stay with Linda.
8. You’ve been traveling all day. You
………………………… be tired.
9. The phone rang, but I didn’t hear it.
I……………………. have been asleep.
10. Do you know if Jack is in his office? I’m not sure. He
………………… be in his office.
11. I wonder if you …………………… help me.
12. ………………….. you like a cup of coffee?
13. ………………….. I help you, madam?
14. What do I…………………… do to get a driving
license?
15. We haven’t got much time. We ………………….
hurry.
16. The government …………………… do something
about the economy.
17. ……………………….. we invite them to the party?
18. She’s been studying very hard, so she
…………………. pass her examination.
19. Why did he …………………. go to the police
station?
20. …………………. I come in, please? Yes, please do.

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 D. USEFUL LANGUAGE

Presentation

I’m glad to see so many of you here today.

I’d like to talk about how we organize things in
this department.
First I’ll describe our organization.
Finally, I’d like to discuss some future plans.

That’s all I wanted to say about training.

Moving on to my next point…….
Excuse me, can you tell us when the report will be
ready?
Sorry, I didn’t the question.
Could you bear with me?

Turnover rose by 12 per cent last year.

We are predicting a slowdown next year.
As you can see from the graph, sales have
increased dramatically.
Sales reached a peak in December.
They have declined since then.
These are difficult times for the company.

I’d like to finish by thanking you all.

I’d welcome your feedback.

E. DIALOGUES

Setting the scene

A: Hello everyone. It’s good to see you all here so early in

the morning. My name’s Hiro Rosado and I’d like to talk

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about how we organize language training here. First, I’ll
describe how English has become the company language,
then I’ll outline our study programs. Finally, I’d like to say
something about some of our plans for the future.

Moving on

A: So that’s all I wanted to say about the budget for next

year. I’d now like to move on to the question Rosa raised
earlier. That leads me to my next point. We need to look
carefully at how we plan for next year. So, next year’s
budget. I’d now like to talk about the action we are taking to
reach our targets.

Dealing with questions

A: How much is the project going to cost?

B: I’m afraid I can’t say at the moment.

C: Can you tell us when the report will be ready?

B: I’m hoping to have it ready by the end of the week.

D: Are planning to recruit more staff?

B: Sorry, I didn’t catch the question. Could you repeat it,

please?

D: Sorry, I’d like to know if you are planning to recruit more

staff.

B: Did everyone hear that? The question was:” Are we

planning to recruit more staff?”

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Dealing with the unexpected

A: Oh, dear.

B: Is it broken?

A: Yes, the bulb is broken. I’m afraid I won’t be able to use

the projector. Could you bear with me? I have some paper
copies in my briefcase.

B: Are you OK?

A: Yes, I think so. Could I have a glass of water? That’s

better. Sorry, where was I?

B: You were just about to tell us some interesting news.

Recapping

A: As I mentioned earlier, we hope to finish the project by

the end of the year. I said that we were on schedule. Having
said that, there are a couple of potential problems.

Coming to an end

A: I’d like to finish by thanking you all for coming here

today and I look forward to seeing you in two weeks’ time. If
anyone has any questions, please ask. I’ll be around for
coffee later and you are very welcome to contact me if you
have any queries before the next meeting.

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