workers

Question 1

what is a wage factor

Answer 1

Wage factors refer to the financial rewards that workers receive in return for their labour services. These are a major influence on their choice of occupation

Question 2

what are the different types of wage factors

Answer 2

wages, salary, piece rate, commission, bonus, profit related pay, share options and fringe benefits

Question 3

describe wages

Answer 3

wages are time based, paid hourly, daily or weekly, so it is variable to cost firms

Question 4

what is an example of a wage

Answer 4

part time workers I’m a shop receiving $7 per hour

Question 5

describe salary

Answer 5

salaries are paid monthly at a fixed rate irrespective to the amount of work done, so are fixed costs

Question 6

what is an example of a salary

Answer 6

full time workers, such as teachers or managers

Question 7

describe piece rate

Answer 7

fixed amount paid per item produced or sold

Question 8

what is an example of a piece rate

Answer 8

workers producing individual items in a factory receiving $2 per garment made

Question 9

describe commission

Answer 9

a percentage of the value of products or services sold

Question 10

what is an example of a commission

Answer 10

real estate agents receiving 1% of the value of each property they sell

Question 11

describe bonus

Answer 11

an additional lump sum of money paid during the year, usually dependent upon performance

Question 12

what is an example of a bonus

Answer 12

bank managers earning end of year bonuses based on the banks profits

Question 13

describe profit related pay

Answer 13

additional payment to workers , based on the amount of profits made by a firm

Question 14

give an example of a profit related pay

Answer 14

a partner in law firm receiving 15% of the annual profits

Question 15

describe the share options

Answer 15

workers receive shares in the firm to give them an incentive to work hard, so that the firm is profitable

Question 16

what is an example of share options

Answer 16

public limited companies offering share options to employees

Question 17

describe the fringe benefit

Answer 17

additional benefits which have a monetary value

Question 18

what is an example of fringe benefits

Answer 18

pensions, health insurance , education for children

Question 19

what are some of the non wage factors

Answer 19

level of challenge, career prospects, level of danger involved , level of education required

Question 20

define demand for labour

Answer 20

the demand for labour is the number of workers that firms are willing and able to hire at a given wage rate

Question 21

define derived demand

Answer 21

derived demand means that labour is not demanded for itself but for the goods and services it is used to produce

Question 22

what are some of the factors that influence the demand for labour

Answer 22

• the level of total demand in an economy, during a period of economic growth, the demand for goods and services and therefore the demand for labour to produce them
• productivity of labour , the demand for workers increase as their productivity increases through training and changes to production methods
• the cost of labour as compared with the cost of machinery and technology that could replace the labour

Question 23

define the supply of labour

Answer 23

the supply of labour refers to everyone in an economy who is of working age and is both willing and able to work at difference wage rates

Question 24

what are factors that influence the labour force participation rate

Answer 24

• number of full time and part time workers
• number of women in the workforce
• age distribution of the workforce

Question 25

what are the reason that some people may not be geographically mobile

Answer 25

- family ties and related commitments - cost of living

Question 26

how is the equilibrium wage rate determined

Answer 26

The equilibrium wage rate is determined when the wage rate workers are willing to work for equals the wage rate that firms are prepared to pay

Question 27

what are some factors that affect the relative bargaining power

Answer 27

- trade unions - age and experience - level of education

Question 28

define minimum wage

Answer 28

a national minimum wage is the lowest legal amount any firm can pay its workers and is set by the government

Question 29

what are some of the advantages of a national minimum wage

Answer 29

- workers receive a fair wage for an hours work and are not exploited by employers - unemployed people may have an incentive to work - low income earners may have more money

Question 30

what are some of the disadvantages of minimum wage

Answer 30

- workers who earn more than minimum wage

Question 31

what are some of the possible reason in ale and female earnings

Answer 31

- there are more women in part time workers than men - women take career breaks to have their children and can miss out on promotional opportunities - women may face discrimination at work

Question 32

define specialisation of labour

Answer 32

specialisation of labour refers to workers being expert in a particular profession

Question 33

define division of labour

Answer 33

division of labour refers to workers being expert in a particular production process

Question 34

what are some of the advantages of division of labour and specialisation of labour

Answer 34

- workers define experts in their field, so their productivity increases - the quality of the product increases - worker become very skilful

Question 35

what are some of the disadvantages of division of labour and specialisation of labour

Answer 35

- work may become repetitive and boring - the production process may become over specialised - the workers maybe deskilled in some areas