Job Expressions in English

Are you hoping to work in an English-speaking company? In this blog post, we’ll look at some useful expressions you might need at work.

List of Job Expression Vocabulary

If you work for a company, you are an employee. The person who employs you (which means hire you) is your employer. The other people you work with are your colleagues. Within a certain company, sometimes “colleagues” are referred to as “teammates” or “associates.” If you work for yourself, you’re self-employed (also freelancer). 

You might be working full-time or part-time. Full-time is usually referred to someone who works approximately a 40 hour week, from 9 AM to 5 PM on weekdays. 

People also say, “9 to 5” to mean full-time. For example, “I have a 9 to 5 job” means “I have a full-time job.” 

Part-time is when you only work ‘part of the time’. This might be a couple of days a week or it could be just mornings, for example. If you work more than your contracted hours (the hours in your job description) then you’re working overtime. 

You can think of “contracted time” as another way of saying, “promised time,” because you promise to work during the hours you agreed with the employer. 

Different countries have different amounts of holiday entitlement or holiday pay. This is the amount of time you can take off from work. In the UK, you get 28 days a year. Different countries also have different amounts of maternity leave for women expecting a baby. Sometimes you’ll receive maternity pay too, a slightly lower amount than your normal wage for this time. In some countries, men are entitled to some time off work too if they have a new baby. This is called paternity leave. 

If you’re unlucky enough to lose your job, you might be made redundant. “To make redundant” is another way of saying, “to fire an employee” or “to lay off an employee.” 

This could happen when your company is downsizing (getting smaller). You’ll be told that you no longer have a job at that company, and you’ll receive redundancy pay. This is some extra money you get for the inconvenience of losing your job. Another way you might lose your job is if you get fired. This happens when you do something you shouldn’t, and the company decides to terminate your contract. Instead of get fired, you could also say “get the sack” in a very informal situation.

On a more positive note, you could also be promoted. This is when you move to a position in the same company with more responsibility. You’ll probably be paid more too! 

At the end of each month, you’ll receive a payslip with the amount of money you’ll be paid. This is payday – a very happy day! Your payslip will include the tax which has been deducted. Your gross salary is the amount before tax and any other deductions, and your net salary is the amount you actually receive. This is also known as your take home salary. 

When employers and employees negotiate a salary, they usually talk about the amount that includes the tax.

In the US, many companies pay you every two weeks. In other companies or countries, it might be more common to be paid monthly.

Some places of work have people working 24 hours a day. A hospital, for example. If you work somewhere like this, you’ll be doing shift work or working shifts. One day you might be on the day shift, and the next you might be on the night shift. The shift is the period of time you work for in these jobs.

In some places of work, you might have to clock in or clock out. This is when you ‘sign in’ to let your employer know what time you started and finished your shift.

Hopefully now you feel more confident starting your job in an English speaking company or to start looking for one. Good luck!

Check out Anna's business English course here.