Elements of Workplaces and Organizations

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. Each employee has a specific job to accomplish that is often defined by a job description.

An employer is an organization, institution, government entity, agency, company, professional services firm, nonprofit association, small business, store, or individual who employs or puts to work, an employee. An employer has certain legal, ethical, and contractual obligations. Find out more about being an employer.

An exempt employee is an employee who, because of his or her positional duties and responsibilities and level of decision making authority is exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

A non-exempt employee is an employee who, because of the type of duties performed, the usual level of decision making authority, and the method of compensation, is subject to all FLSA provisions.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not define what constitutes a part time employee. What is counted as a part time employee is generally defined by the employer by policy. The definition of a part time employee is generally published in the employee handbook.

Temporary employees are hired to assist employers to meet business demands yet allow the employer to avoid the cost of hiring a regular employee. Sometimes, it is the expectation of the employer that if the temporary employee is successful, the temporary employee will be hired.

A workplace is the location at which an employee provides work for an employer. Find out more about the workplace.

Employment is an agreement between an employer and an employee that the employee will provide certain services on the job. What else does employment or a job for an employer imply?

Need an employee and company friendly way to keep employee job descriptions, goals, and plans up-to-date without Human Resources intervention? Consider a job profile plan. Owned by the employee in conjunction with and negotiated with his or her manager, the job plan solves the most frequent problems organizations experience with job...

Do you work for an employer of choice? Better yet, are you an employer of choice? An employer of choice is an employer who offers a work culture and workplace environment that attracts and retains superior employees. These are the factors that go into an employer becoming an employer of choice.

Want to know more about your organization's chain of command? The chain of command describes how organizations structure reporting relationships as a way to control the flow of decisions and information. Here's what you need to know about the chain of command.