employer

An employer is a person, company, or organization that employs people—pays them for work.

The people who are paid to work are called employees. Employers provide employment.

Less commonly, employer can mean something that occupies someone or someone that uses something (the word employ can also mean to use), as in Be a good employer of your time. 

Example: If the factory closes, thousands of people will lose their jobs—it’s the largest employer in the county.

The first records of the word employer come from right around 1600. The base word, employ, ultimately derives from the Latin implicāre, meaning “to engage.” The word employee came later, with the suffix -ee indicating a person who is the object or beneficiary of employment.

While employees are often seen as the ones getting this benefit—and the benefits that sometimes come with it, such as health insurance—the employee-employer relationship is based on an exchange. The employer exchanges money for work done. This exchange is often formalized through some kind of contract or employment agreement, and both employee and employer are often used in the context of official situations like this. Typically, a person must have an employer to be considered an employee.

What are some other forms related to employer?

• employ (verb)

What are some words that share a root or word element with employer? 

• employee
• employment

What are some words that often get used in discussing employer?

• business
• company
• job
• labor
• work
• wages
• pay
• paycheck
• payroll

Regardless of how people think about their employer, the word itself is used in a neutral way.

I would advise you to ask your employer to contact us directly.

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Thanks, Emma.

— NHS Pensions (@nhs_pensions) June 4, 2020

The government is the largest employer in every state. https://t.co/6NLneDH5Rs

— Wayne Vaughan (@WayneVaughan) May 30, 2020

Look at these women! Calling out your employer publicly is a really courageous thing to do in the tiny world of Canadian journalism. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾@vanmalas https://t.co/iUvNJSMFkL

— Denise Balkissoon (@balkissoon) June 2, 2020

Which of the following people has an employer?

A. a paid staff member
B. an unemployed person
C. a self-employed person
D. a volunteer