Work Vocabulary

Question 1

Someone who is paid to work for someone else.

Answer 1

Employee

Question 2

A person or organization that employs people.

Answer 2

Employer

Question 3

When someone is paid to work for a company or organization.

Answer 3

Employment

Question 4

Not working.

Answer 4

Unemployment

Question 5

To make the same journey regularly between work and home

Answer 5

Commute

Question 6

Formal way to say ‘job’.

Answer 6

Occupation

Question 7

Working life or a particular job during one’s working life that gets better in terms of salary and position.

Answer 7

Career

Question 8

Any type of work which needs special training or a particular skill, often one which is respected because it involves a high level of education.

Answer 8

Profession

Question 9

Money paid each month to an employee for their work.

Answer 9

Salary / Wages

Question 10

Businesses and industries that are owned or controlled by the government.

Answer 10

Public Sector

Question 11

Businesses and industries that are privately owned.

Answer 11

Private Sector

Question 12

To stop working because of old age or ill health.

Answer 12

Retire

Question 13

Working a fixed number of hours but having flexibility with start and finish times.

Answer 13

Flexitime

Question 14

To leave a job.

Answer 14

Resign / Quit

Question 15

To remove someone from their job, especially because they have done something wrong

Answer 15

Fire / Sack /

Dismiss

Question 16

A job position that is not filled and so is available.

Answer 16

Vacancy

Question 17

Working more than your contracted hours.

Answer 17

Overtime

Question 18

The time worked in a job that is not normal hours.

Answer 18

Shift

Question 19

idiom for

Very good or excellent work.

Answer 19

Bang-up job

Question 20

“For someone in their first week at our company, she sure did a bang-up job,” the manager said.

Answer 20

Very good or excellent work.

Question 21

idiom for

A person’s regular job

Answer 21

Day job

Question 22

A person’s regular job and main source of income, as opposed to a more enjoyable pastime or hobby which does not pay as well.

Answer 22

Day job

Question 23

He is a DJ at the weekend, but teaching is his day job.

Answer 23

A person’s regular job and main source of income

Question 24

A job which does not offer any chance of promotion or advancement.

Answer 24

Dead-end job

Question 25

Despite having a degree in English literature, he got stuck in a dead-end job at an insurance company.

Answer 25

there is little or no chance of career development

Question 26

An invisible barrier that prevents some people, mainly women and minorities, from being promoted.

Answer 26

Glass ceiling

Question 27

Camilla knew she would never become a company director – she wouldn’t be able to get through the glass ceiling.

Answer 27

a qualified person whishing to advance within the hierarchy of his/her organization is stopped at a lower level

Question 28

refers to a big payment made to people when they leave their job.

Answer 28

A golden handshake

Question 29

it is a large payment made to a senior company executive who has been forced to leave their job.

Answer 29

A “golden parachute”

Question 30

The company is laying off 20 workers who will receive a golden handshake

Answer 30

a payment given to someone who is made redundant or retires early.

Question 31

A fierce written or spoken attack on someone or their work that aims to destroy their reputation.

Answer 31

Hatchet job

Question 32

The reporter really did a hatchet job on the legislative councillor who resigned over the scandal.

Answer 32

a fierce written attack on someone or their work.

Question 33

he is someone who is employed to do unpleasant things, such as firing people. The idiom has darker origins when men with hatchets (small axes) or other weapons were employed to resolve disagreements between people.

Answer 33

A hatchet man

Question 34

The city’s economy is in recession and many people have lost their jobs. The hatchet man has been very busy.

Answer 34

a person employed to carry out controversial or disagreeable tasks, such as the dismissal of a number of people from employment.

Question 35

A crime committed by someone in the place where they work.

Answer 35

Inside job

Question 36

It turns out the bank robbery was an inside job – the manager helped the gang steal the money.

Answer 36

a crime committed by or with the assistance of a person living or working on the premises where it occurred.

Question 37

This is when a company tells workers to leave their jobs, usually because there is no work for them any more. This can happen when a company is cutting costs or there is a management change.

Answer 37

Laid off / lay-off

Question 38

My friend, who works in a restaurant, was laid off recently.

Answer 38

1 : to stop doing or taking something.

2 : to leave one alone wish you’d just lay off.

Question 39

Used to describe work that begins at 9am and ends at 5pm, usually from Monday to Friday. The term generally implies a stable job in an office.

Answer 39

Nine-to-five

Question 40

If you are looking for a nine-to-five, a government job would be the thing for you.

Answer 40

used in reference to typical office hours, often to express an idea of predictable routine.
“a nine-to-five job”

Question 41

To be suddenly fired from a job. Similar terms used include fired, axed, booted, canned, shown the door, sent packing and let go.

Answer 41

Sacked / get the sack

Question 42

She got the sack because she was always late.

Answer 42

to be dismissed suddenly from a job

Question 43

A form of protest where employees only do what they are expected to and nothing more, in order to slow down production. This is less extreme than a strike, which means to stop working completely.

Answer 43

Work-to-rule

Question 44

Many students arrived late at school as they were badly affected by a work-to-rule by bus drivers.

Answer 44

follow official working rules and hours exactly in order to reduce output and efficiency, especially as a form of industrial action.