1 Warm-up: Mental Math and Estimation How many hours are there in a work week that is made up of five 
7.5-hour days? How many hours would that be in a year? An office assistant who earns $10.00 an hour was paid $ for 10 hours of work. How is this possible?

2 EXPLORE THE MATH Not every working person earns wages or a salary. What kinds 
of jobs do you think may be paid in each of the following ways:  • on a commission basis?  • with a base salary plus commission?  • by piecework?  • through a contract? In piecework, people are paid according to the number of 
items they complete. For example, a person may deliver 
promotional flyers at five cents a flyer, or a berry-picker may 
pick organic raspberries for $0.65 a pound. The number that 
can be completed in an hour will determine the hourly amount earned.

3 A contract is an agreement between two or more parties that 
describes the amount and type of work and the amount to be 
paid. There is often a schedule of payments, with payment at 
each stage of a job as it is completed.

4 Definitions: self-employed: a person who works for him- or herself rather than  for an employer. piecework: when someone is paid a set rate for an amount  produced. commission: an amount, usually a percentage, paid to someone for  a business transaction. contract: a legal agreement that outlines terms, conditions, and  payments for work to be done.

5 Example 1 Manjit is a self-employed aesthetician. She offers European facials 
for $85.00 each. She sells skin-care products to her customers at an 
average markup of 45%. Customers who buy skin toners, protective 
creams, masks, and related products that total more than $95.00 
receive a 20% discount on both the facial and the skin-care 
products. a) How much does Manjit earn in half a day if she gives 3 facials and  sells one customer moisturizers and skin creams totaling  $125.00? Calculate her gross earnings, without taking into  account her costs.

6 b) How much does Manjit earn from the sale of skin creams  during this half day? c) If all the customers had paid the full price for the same services  and products, how much more would Manjit have earned?  Would you advise her to offer the 20% discount?  Why or why not?

7 Example 2 Gwen works as a sales clerk in a clothing store. She earns a base 
salary of $10.00/h plus a 15% commission on the price before taxes 
of each item she sells. Her work day is 8 hours. One day, Gwen sells 
a suit with a price of $625.00, a sweater priced at $95.00, 3 T-shirts 
that cost $45.00 each, and a raincoat priced at $ How much does she earn that day?

8 EXPLORE THE MATH In certain jobs, people earn additional money beyond their 
basic wage or salary. You might have contributed to these 
additional earnings. If you have a pizza delivered, do you tip 
the delivery person? When you get a great haircut, do you 
give the hairdresser a tip to show your appreciation? It is 
common for people in service industry jobs to earn tips from 
satisfied customers. Another form of additional earnings that is often related to job 
performance is a bonus. For example, employers may pay 
bonuses to staff who exceed sales targets or sign up new 
customers.

9 Some people earn extra money based on their work 
environment or the time of day they work. People who work in 
remote areas might earn an isolation allowance. People who 
work in potentially dangerous situations, such as members of 
the armed forces, may earn danger pay. If you work 
nonstandard hours, your employer might pay you a shift 
premium. What hours would be considered non-standard? Can you think of jobs in which shift premiums might be paid? How else might employees earn money in addition to their 
basic rate of pay?

10 Definitions: bonus: extra pay earned when certain conditions of  employment have been met or exceeded. shift premium: extra payment for non-standard work hours.

11 EARNING TIPS People who work in restaurants usually earn some of their 
income in the form of tips, often paid in addition to the 
minimum wage. Because many people’s first jobs are as 
servers, this is an important type of income to understand. 
Many people also make a lifelong career in the restaurant 
industry. Consider the following questions about income from 
tips. 1. Your restaurant gives 5% of the tips received in a shift to  employees working in the kitchen. If $ is received  in tips, and there are 5 people working in the kitchen, how  much will each person receive?

12 2. You worked a four-hour shift as a server and your customer bills totalled $ before tips. Your rate of pay is  $10.00/h. a) If all your customers tipped you 10%, how much did you 
 earn an hour in wages and tips? b) If all your customers tipped you 15%, how much did you 
 earn an hour in wages and tips? c) If all your customers tipped you 20%, how much did you 
 earn an hour in wages and tips? 3. Do you think certain working hours would be better for  earning tips? Which hours? Why?

13 Example 1 Kyle works in a bookstore selling books. He also sells 
customers reward cards for $30.00 that will give them a 
discount on future purchases. His employer gives him a 
bonus of 10% of the amount received if he sells more than 20 cards in a month. If his regular wages are $ and he 
sells 27 reward cards one month, what will Kyle’s wages be 
including the bonus?

14 Example 2 Jacob works as a stock clerk for a grocery store in Labrador City, NL. His regular pay is $12.00 an hour, but he earns a shift premium of $2.00 an hour for any hours he works between 5:00 pm and 8:00 am. Jacob also earns 1.5 times his pay rate in overtime for any hours he works above 35 hours a week. His timesheet is shown below. a) What percentage of Jacob’s weekly hours are regular  hours? b) What percentage of his weekly earnings are paid at the 
 regular rate?

15 Independent Practice:Calculating Wages Worksheet *Due Thursday!

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17 1.

18 4.  $2.75 × 5 = $13.75  On the piecework system, Ling would average $13.75/h.  On an hourly basis, she would earn $13.25,so she would 
 earn $0.50 an hour more at the piecework rate, but only if 
 she maintained the rate of 5 arrangements an hour.  If she is a fast worker, piecework might be the better 
 option.

19 A 12% commission means that he earns $0.12 for each dollar of sales. 6.  To calculate the amount of commission William needs to 
 earn, subtract his salary from his total projected income.  $ − $ = $  A 12% commission means that he earns $0.12 for each 
 dollar of sales.  (0.12)(s) = $     s = $ / 0.12     s = $ William needs to sell electrical supplies worth $ to 
earn $ in commission.

20 7. a)  Calculate Dorothy’s cabinet installation fees. 12 cabinets × $15.00 = $180.00  Calculate the service call fees.  2 calls × 3 h = 6 h  6 h × $30.00 = $180.00    Add the two amounts to find the total amount earned.  $ $ = $360.00

21 b) c)  For an employer, paying on a piecework basis means he 
 or she would not be paying benefits such as holiday pay 
 or sick time.  Also, someone working piecework would not get paid if  business is slow. A disadvantage for an employer would 
 be that a worker may not always be available or a worker 
 may not work quickly enough to complete the work in a 
 reasonable time.

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