TABLE OF CONTENTS Pay is simply the consideration arising from a contract of employment (as opposed to a contract for services associated with subcontracting) to give somebody a particular amount of money for work done for goods or services provided. Benefits are similarly defined as a regular payment made to somebody qualified to receive it. Total pay and benefits are also known collectively as a 'remuneration package' and this includes wage and non-wage payments such as bonuses and fringe benefits such as heath insurance, pension fund, sickness benefits etc.
Both definitions are understandably similar and draw attention to a number of key issues. First, there is a suggestion of equity or a fair exchange of something for something else with each outcome having benefit for both parties (money and goods and services provided); second, a notion of 'worth' attached to qualifications. With some imagination these fundamentals may be extrapolated into issues of pay structure linked to jobs and pay levels in organizations. De Cieri and Kramar (2003, p. 426) provide adequate summaries of these terms:
[Pay structure is] the relative pay of different jobs and how much they are paid (pay level) . . . [ Job structure is] the relative pay of jobs in an organization.
Overall, employees may be paid either a biweekly or monthly salary or a weekly wage (the latter is more common in the hospitality industry). The actual payment is a function of several factors, the two most...
