Salary: Paying your way

Serie Business-English

„Wichtig ist, was hinten rauskommt“ – dieses Credo gilt vor allem für Gehaltsverhandlungen. Jongliert wird im Gespräch mit „basic pay“, „rates for overtime“ und „special benefits“. Sie jedoch sollten vor allem eines im Auge haben: das „take-home pay“. Das ist das, was Ihnen unterm Strich bleibt.

Whether it's called “personnel”, “human resources” (HR) or “people management”, the subject is the same: people at work. One point is worth noting, however: “personnel” - spelt with two “n”s and one “l” - is pronounced person-NEL, unlike the word personal (as in “personal computer”), which is pronounced PER-sonal.

It could all be so simple. You go to work, do your job and get your pay. Reality is more complicated, as pay goes under many different names. The first basic distinction in the employment world is between the employer (Arbeitgeber) and the employee (Arbeitnehmer). Manual or “blue-collar” workers (Arbeiter) receive a wage (Lohn), while employees or “white-collar” workers (Angestellte) receive a salary (Gehalt). Yet for either group, the legal minimum is called the minimum wage (Mindestlohn).

So far, so good. But professional people who are self-employed (selbstständig), such as architects or lawyers, receive neither a salary nor a wage. Instead, they charge a fee (Honorar) for their work, either at an hourly rate (Stundensatz) or as a flat/fixed rate (Pauschale). Authors and musicians normally receive royalties (Tantiemen) for the use of their works.

Extras:

• Key terms for pay: Vokabular von Gehaltserhöhung bis Überstunden.
  
• Literaturtipp: Hinweis auf ein englischsprachiges Buch über das Vokabular im Personalwesen.

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