- wage
- wage wage [weɪdʒ] noun [countable]also wages HUMAN RESOURCES money that someone earns according to the number of hours, days, or weeks that they work, especially money that is paid each week:
• The average hourly wage in the industry is $8.
• Workers were demanding a 10% wage increase.
• The new law would mean a 5% pay cut for most wage earners.
• For the average worker, wages rose 4.6%.
• She worked long hours for low wages.
ˌbasic ˈwage also ˌbase ˈwage[singular] HUMAN RESOURCES the amount of money that workers are paid for each normal hour, week etc that they work, not including any extra payments:basic wage of• a base wage of $11 an hour
• The company proposed a 2% basic wage increase.
ˌliving ˈwage [singular]a wage high enough to allow someone to live a fairly comfortable life:• Trade Unions are still fighting for a living wage in many industries.
ˌminimum ˈwage [singular] LAWthe lowest amount of money that can legally be paid per hour to a worker:• He claimed that Labour's plans to introduce a national minimum wage would lead to job losses.
• a statutory minimum wage
ˈmoney ˌwages [plural] ECONOMICSthe amount of money that someone receives as their wages, rather than payments in the form of goods, a place to live etc:• Both money wages and prices are rising, leaving real wages unchanged.
ˈreal ˌwages [plural] ECONOMICSthe amount of goods and services that can be bought with someone's wages, after taking into account inflation (= rising prices):• Since 1975, real wages for US manual workers have fallen.
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wage UK US /weɪdʒ/ noun [S] (also wages [plural]) HR, WORKPLACE► an amount of money that is paid, usually every week, to an employee for their work: a daily/hourly/weekly wage »This deal represents an hourly wage rate of $9.83.
a high/low wage »We pay the highest wages of any theatrical employer in the world.
earn/get a wage »Some college education is required to earn a decent wage in the United States.
a wage cut/increase/rise »The employees accepted a 4% wage rise.
»If you are a good employer, you will pay a fair wage.
»His 15 stores employ 200 workers at an average wage of $7.40 an hour.
fair/good/low wages »They provided fair wages and steady jobs.
→ See also BASIC WAGE(Cf. ↑basic wage), GUARANTEED WAGE(Cf. ↑guaranteed wage), LIVING WAGE(Cf. ↑living wage), MINIMUM WAGE(Cf. ↑minimum wage), MONEY WAGES(Cf. ↑money wages), REAL WAGES(Cf. ↑real wages)
Financial and business terms. 2012.