Employment: Job Ads, Pay Stubs and Workplace Forms (CASAS Competency 4)
The Employment area covers the documents and conversations of working life: reading a job ad, completing an application or resume, understanding a schedule, reading a pay stub, filling out a W-4, following workplace policy, and requesting time off or reporting a problem.
Core rules and concepts
- Job ads separate requirements (must have a valid license) from preferences (bilingual a plus). Answer questions from the requirement line.
- Schedules: shift start and end times, unpaid meal breaks, and the rule that overtime usually begins after 40 hours worked in a workweek.
- Pay stub math: gross pay is hours times rate, with overtime at 1.5 times the rate for hours over 40; deductions include federal and state withholding, Social Security and Medicare, and benefits; gross minus deductions equals net pay. Year-to-date figures are cumulative, not this period.
- Forms: the W-4 sets how much tax is withheld; the W-2 reports the year's wages and is what you use to file a return.
- Workplace policy: sick leave, requesting time off in advance, reporting injuries immediately, and what at-will employment means.
Worked example
An employee earns $14.00 per hour, worked 42 hours last week, and had $120.50 in total deductions. What was net pay? Reasoning: 40 hours at $14.00 is $560.00. Two overtime hours at $21.00 (1.5 times 14) is $42.00, so gross pay is $602.00. Net pay is $602.00 minus $120.50, or $481.50. A question asking for take-home pay wants $481.50; $602.00 is the trap for anyone who stops at gross.
Traps that cost marks
- Reporting gross when the question asks for net, or the reverse.
- Paying overtime on all hours, or at straight time instead of time and a half.
- Reading a year-to-date column as the current pay period.
- Answering from the preferred qualifications instead of the requirements.
- Mixing up the W-4 and the W-2, or assuming a salaried position pays overtime.