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Salary

society Maturity 11-13 Next article →

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"text": "A salary is a fixed amount of money paid to an employee by an employer. This payment is usually specified within an employment contract. It differs from piece wages, where workers are paid for every individual unit or hour they complete. In a business, salaries are often viewed as the cost of maintaining human resources for operations. This is known as personnel expense or salary expense. In accounting systems, these payments are recorded in payroll accounts.

\n\nSalaries are typically distributed at fixed intervals. For example, a worker might receive one-twelfth of their annual salary each month. The total compensation package, or total remuneration, includes both the gross salary and various employee benefits. After the government collects payroll taxes, the remaining amount is the net salary. This net amount is also called disposable income.

\n\nDetermining a salary involves several economic factors. Employers often compare market pay-rates for similar roles in the same industry and region. They also use internal salary ranges to ensure consistent pay levels. The principle of supply and demand also plays a role. If there are few people available to do a specific job, the salary may change.

\n\nHistory shows that salaried work requires an advanced barter system. Some historians believe salaries began during the Neolithic Revolution between 10,000 BCE and 6,000 BCE. A cuneiform clay tablet from 3100 BCE in Mesopotamia records daily beer rations for workers. The word \"salary\" is linked to the Latin word \"sal,\" meaning salt. Roman soldiers sometimes requested salt instead of coins because it had a flexible market value.

\n\nIn medieval and pre

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