What is a wage?
Q: What is a wage?
A: A wage is money that an employer pays to an employee in exchange for work.
Q: How does a wage differ from a salary or commission?
A: A salary is where the employer pays an arranged amount at regular intervals regardless of hours worked or amount of work done, while commission is usually an extra payment based on the performance of the worker or product.
Q: Are wages typically paid by the hour?
A: Yes, wages are usually paid by the hour and this is called an hourly wage. Wages paid by the day are also still common.
Q: What factors may influence wage rates?
A: Wage rates may be influenced by market forces (supply and demand), laws, and tradition.
Q: Is there such thing as a minimum wage rate?
A: Yes, in many countries laws set a minimum wage rate that all employers must pay their workers. This means that employers cannot pay workers lower than this rate but they can pay them higher than it. The minimum wage rate exists to protect the working class.
Q: When did people first start receiving wages for their work?
A: People received wages for their work as far back as Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome during what was known as the Middle Kingdom period.
