What Is an Employee?
An employee is an individual who was hired by an employer to do a specific job. The employee is hired by the employer after an application and interview process results in his or her selection as an employee. This selection occurs after the applicant is found by the employer to be the most qualified of their applicants to do the job for which they are hiring.
This is always a risk that the employer takes because they need to employ people who can do the work required to perform a particular job. You can only learn just so much in an interview and selection process. The rest you learn after the employee starts the job.
The terms of an individual’s employment are specified by an offer letter, an employment contract, or verbally. In a non-union workplace, every employee negotiates on their own; the terms of employment are not universal between all positions.
Many prospective employees do not negotiate at all by choosing to accept the offer that the employer makes to them. Others ask for $5,000 - $10,000 more to see if they can start the job with a higher salary. Since raises are subsequently based on the pay rate negotiated, it behooves a new employee to negotiate the best possible deal.
In workplaces that are represented by a union, the collective bargaining agreement covers most aspects of an employee’s relationship with the workplace including compensation, benefits, hours of employment, sick time off, and vacation. The contract also protects the rights of the unionized employee and gives the employee options to grieving workplace treatment. The existence of the contract takes away the employee's individual right to negotiate his salary.
Most employees who work in service or product creating roles have a narrow range of potential salary offers since their jobs are defined with a salary range and benefits in mind. Employees who are senior leaders and managers are more likely to receive their job offer in an employment contract that is individually negotiated by them.
What Does an Employee Do?
An employee works part-time, full-time, or is temporary in a job assignment.
An employee barters his or her skills, knowledge, experience, and contribution in exchange for compensation from an employer. An employee is either exempt from overtime or not exempt from overtime; the rules about paying an employee are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
An exempt employee is paid for accomplishing a full job in as many hours as necessary to accomplish it. Employers must pay the non-exempt employee for every hour worked as they are paid by the hour.
When an employee is classified as a non-exempt employee, the employer must set up a time tracking system to ensure that the employee is legally paid for every hour worked and for overtime for every hour worked past 40. in one week, and more than 8 hours in one day in some states (Alaska, California, and Nevada) or 12 hours in Colorado. Note that this may differ from state to state and in countries worldwide.
New rules are going into effect that makes further distinctions about who is exempt and who is nonexempt based on the amount of money an employee is paid in a year. You'll want to pay attention to the changing rules about employee classification as they will affect most workplaces.
As of Dec. 1, 2016, new overtime rules extended overtime protections to an additional 4.2 million employees in the United States by raising the salary threshold from $23,660 per year to $47,476. This means that nearly all workers on lower salaries are entitled to time-and-a-half pay whenever they work more than 40 hours in a week. See more about the rule changes.
More About Employees and Their Jobs
Each employee has a specific job to accomplish that is often defined by a job description. In responsible organizations, a performance development planning process defines the work of the employee and the organization’s expectation’s for the employee’s performance.
It should also help employees set goals and track their performance. Additionally, the performance management system should help employees develop their ongoing skills and adopt a career path.
An employee works within a functional area or department such as marketing or Human Resources. An employee has a boss, the person he or she reports to and takes direction from, usually a manager or supervisor. An employee should have the expectation that he or she will receive reasonable, professional treatment from the manager. An employee also has coworkers who work with them to accomplish the work of the department.
The employee has a workstation or an office in which he or she accomplishes the job. The employer supplies the employee with the tools and equipment necessary to perform work such as a computer, telephone, cell phone, laptop, desk, and supplies.
The Bottom Line
Although most employment relationships are at-will, the employee who performs the job successfully is likely, although not guaranteed, to keep the job.