• I don’t like my boss. We just don’t get on.
• The atmosphere is terrible. He doesn’t get on with his co-workers.

‘follow up’ = to find out more about or take further action on something.

• Before we offer her the job, we need to follow up on her references.
• The training is followed up by regular refresher courses over a six-month period.

‘set up’ = to arrange for an activity or event to happen

• I’d like to discuss it further. Can we set up a meeting?
• I’ve set up interviews with the remaining three candidates.

‘make up’ = do or pay extra to cover a difference.

• I’d like to leave early on Friday. I’ll make up the time next week.
• There was an error in your expenses. We’ll make up the difference next month.

‘hand in’ = to give something

• He’s leaving at the end of the month. He has handed in his resignation.
• I haven’t handed my time sheet in yet. I must do it now.

‘work out’ your notice = to continue working through the period after you have resigned.

• They asked him to leave immediately. He didn’t have to work out his notice.
• He negotiated a deal so he didn’t have to work out his notice and could leave sooner.

‘sort out’ = to resolve

• We don’t know who is going to replace Sue. We have to sort it out soon.
• I have finally sorted out the error on the time sheets. It’s all correct now.

‘carry on’ = to continue

• We still haven’t found a suitable candidate. We’ll have to carry on looking.
• Until we get the new software installed, we’ll have to carry on using the old.

‘back out’ = to decide not to do something previously agreed.

• They had agreed to do it but then backed out.
• He had accepted the post but backed out at the last minute so we’re considering other candidates.

‘go with’ = to adopt or support an idea or plan.

• I think your idea is a good one. I think we should go with it.
• We’re not really sure which agency to go with. We don’t think any of them are really what we are really looking for.

• We have closed down the small local branches and created bigger regional offices.
• The factory closed down in the 1970′s because it was too expensive to produce here.

• All the workers fought against the closure but the plant was no longer profitable.
• The unions have been fighting against the proposed changes as they think it will mean job losses.

• We had come to an agreement but now she has gone back on it.
• The company promised to review the situation but went back on its word and didn’t.

• They promised to make a decision today but it has been put back until next week.
• My visit has been put back until a later date when it will be easier to plan.

• We have fallen behind schedule. It won’t be completed on time.
• Our salaries have fallen behind the national average with the small increase we have had.

• We offered a two per cent increase but it was turned down.
• We offered him a much higher salary but he turned it down and didn’t join our team.

• I need to brief the person who will be filling in for me while I am on maternity.
• I filled in for Jamie while he was on holiday.

• Whenever there is a dispute with someone in my team, my manager always backs me up.
• Nobody backed him up when he said he had been discriminated against.

• I don’t know how much holiday I have left. I need to work it out.
• We need to work out how much this is really going to cost.

• The negotiations are dragging on. I think we’ll never reach an agreement.
• The meeting dragged on and on. I thought I’d never get home.

• I’m going to take a few days off to visit my parents.
• I’m taking Monday off to go to the dentist and do some jobs at home.

• I’m taking my vacation next month. We’re going to Spain.
• I have to take my vacation during the school holidays because of my children.

• He’s on a sabbatical while he does his MBA. He’ll be back next month.
• She’s on a sabbatical from her job while she does research for her thesis.

• She’s taken some unpaid leave while she moves house.
• I don’t have any paid holiday left so I’d like to take unpaid leave.

• When you are off sick, you must provide a doctor’s note.
• He has been off sick for a few days now. I think he’ll be back at work on Monday.

• She is having an operation and so will be on sick leave for the next two months.
• When you are on sick leave prescribed by your doctor, you get paid your full salary for the first three months.

• Her maternity leave finishes next week but she is not coming back to work.
• Statutory maternity leave is paid for up to 26 weeks and can start 11 weeks before the baby is due.

• He has taken parental leave to look after the baby while his wife returns to work.
• You have to work for an employer for one year to qualify for parental leave to look after your children.

• If you are absent from work due to illness, you may be able to claim sick pay.
• To claim sick pay, you have to have medical certificate from your doctor stating that you are unable to work.

• We have 25 days paid holiday plus 10 public holidays.
• When there is a public holiday on a Thursday, many people take the Friday off too.

• He handed his notice in last month when he didn’t get promoted to senior manager.
• She wants to be promoted to supervisor but doesn’t have the interpersonal skills for that job yet.

• I originally had a two-year contract but it has been renewed twice.
• We need to renew the work permits for the foreign workers who have been here a year.

• When we closed the warehouse, we laid off more than fifty people.
• Technological advances means that we have had to lay off more and more unskilled workers.

• She was demoted after the terrible changeover to the new accounting system.
• Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to demote anyone who does not live up to expectations.

• When the new CEO was nominated, he was sidelined to another department.
• After a period as a very ineffectual head of department, he was sidelined until he retired.

• Ken replaced Tanya when she left to pursue another career.
• When David left, he was replaced by two people as the job had grown enormously.

• Jack suffers from ill health and has had to retire early.
• The statutory age for retirement is 60 although people often retire early if they can.

• Contributions that employees pay increased faster than salaries so cutting their net incomes.
• Even though profits have increased, we are not in a position to increase salaries above the rate of inflation.

• We have expanded our retail operations very quickly over the last three years.
• The company expanded very quickly in the 1990s but has since stopped growing so fast.

• Currently we are restructuring our organization and dividing it into five cost centres.
• He lost his job when the company restructured the department.

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• When I was a student, I had a part-time job in a bar.
• We are looking for a part-time receptionist to work mornings.

to be punctual = to start or arrive at the specified time

• She’s very punctual, always here on time.
• Please be punctual. I don’t want to have to wait for late arrivals.

home working = to work from home rather than going into the office

• Home working misses the social element of going to work.
• Modern technology means that home working has become a real possibility for many people.

time sheet = a record of the numbers of hours worked by an employee

• Fill out this time sheet every day and hand it to your manager on Fridays.
• We no longer have time sheets as this is done automatically by the electronic ID badges.

unsocial hours = hours outside of the normal working week

• Although the hours are rather unsocial, I don’t want a nine to five job.
• Lots of professions work very unsocial hours and don’t necessarily get compensated for it.

to take a break = to stop work for a short time to relax

• You can buy tea or coffee when you take a break.
• Sometimes it’s a good idea to take a break and come back to a job refreshed.

to clock in/out = to record the start or finish time of work on a special machine

• The staff clock in when they arrive and clock out as they leave.
• Flexitime means that everyone has to clock in and out to keep a check on the hours worked.

public holidays = national holidays that are not generally worked

• Your holiday entitlement does not include public holidays like Christmas Day.
• If a public holiday is on a Thursday, many people take the Friday off and have a long weekend.

hourly rate = the salary that is paid per hour of work

• We are paid a considerably higher hourly rate for Sundays or evening work.
• The part-time employees are paid an hourly rate but the permanent staff are paid a fixed salary.

fixed hours = the working hours of an employee do not change or cannot be varied

• The admin staff work fixed hours; nine to five, five days a week.
• As a freelancer, I don’t have any fixed hours but work when the work is there.

• We aren’t paid when we work overtime, we can take time off in lieu.
• We had to work overtime to get the project finished on time.

• In today’s twenty-four hour society, more and more people work shifts.
• We get paid more when we work shifts to compensate for the irregular times.

• The irregular rhythm of shift work can be very hard on family life.
• Production keeps going non-stop so we have a lot of people who do shift work.

• It’s very hard on the night shift because I can’t sleep very well during the day.
• Some people prefer to be on the night shift because they are at home when the children come home from school.

• As we work flexitime, I take the children to school and arrive at nine thirty.
• With flexitime, as long as I have done my seven hours, I can leave at four thirty.

• The weekly roster is put up on the board so that you can see who is working.
• Look on the roster to see what job you are doing.

• I’d like to have some time off next month. I need a break.
• If you want to have time off, you have to fill out a request form and give it to your line manager.

• I had two days off last week so I have a lot of work to catch up on.
• I’d like a day off next week to deal with some family matters. Friday if that is convenient.

• At the moment I only work two days a week but I would like to work full-time.
• After the birth of my son, I didn’t want to go back full-time so do three days a week now.

• If you are interested in the job, could you fill out this application form, please?
• I have completed the application form for that job and sent it back to the personnel department.

• We have your contact details so we will be in touch soon.
• If you give me your contact details, I’ll call you to set up an interview.

• I have already held similar positions as you can see from my employment history.
• There are gaps in her employment history. I would like to know what she was doing during these periods.

• As you can see from my CV, I have all the relevant experience you require.
• This candidate doesn’t have the relevant experience in our sector but is very well qualified in every other aspect.

• I don’t think that my job description includes all the task I am currently doing.
• We are currently writing job descriptions for the new jobs being created in the sales team.

• We hope to make a formal job offer as soon as we have had replies from your referees.
• I turned down the job offer I received from them because the salary wasn’t as good as my present one.

• The holiday entitlement is only 20 days a year but that doesn’t include public holidays.
• Although the holiday entitlement is very generous, holidays have to be taken at certain times of the year.

• I have to work out my notice in my present job so can we put back the starting date?
• Originally they wanted me to start next week but as I was available, I suggested an earlier starting date.

• They let him go at the end of the probation period.
• She is still on her probation period. We have another two weeks to make a final decision.

• Larry’s move to London has created a vacancy in Marketing if you are interested.
• We don’t have any vacancies at the moment but we will keep your CV on file.

• Although the post was advertised last month, we promoted someone internally.
• We advertised the post in the national press last week and have received lots of applications.

• Ten people have applied for the job just from advertising it internally.
• I’ve applied for that job in Glasgow even though I don’t really have enough experience.

• I’ve written letters of application for four different jobs but had no reply yet.
• We have received letters of application from a wide range of candidates.

• The number of applicants is very high. There are a lot of people with the right qualifications and experience.
• We do a pre-selection of the applicants based on their previous experience.

• We use a recruitment agency to advertise the post and do a pre-selection.
• There are several recruitment agencies who specialize in our sector so we can find highly qualified candidates quickly.

• We have written new job descriptions for all the jobs in our department.
• I don’t think making the coffee is in my job description!

• For a post at this level, we consider experience to be more important than academic qualifications.
• For this post, we give full training. The only qualification necessary is a high school diploma.

• I have a lot of experience managing a small team and would now like to manage a bigger one.
• The best candidates are those who have previous experience in the food industry.

• Although the starting salary is not very high, the benefits include health insurance.
• We pay very competitive salaries and provide some of the best benefits in the sector.

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• We need to get approval for this from senior management.
• With my qualifications and experience, I should have a job in senior management.

• He rose quickly through the company and had a top management position before he was 30.
• The top management of this company have no imagination or drive.

• He was promoted from the shop floor into a junior management position.
• I feel I’m ready to move up from this junior management job.

• It’s time I was promoted from junior management to middle management.
• He rose rapidly to middle management but was then never offered a senior post.

• We have a strong management team, full of high quality people.
• We need to improve our management team to bring new life to the company.

• His aggressive management style has upset a few people.
• We need some aggressive management to wake up this sleeping giant.

• I spend so long on the day-to-day management of my department that I have no time to look at the long-term.
• You will deal with the day-to-day management of the company while I work on the strategy.

• This company lacks good strategic management and is just drifting.
• You need to spend more time on strategic management and less on day-to-day issues.

• You’ve spent your whole career in Sales and you need some experience of general management.
• You need some time in general management to get an overview of the company.

• The company is riddled with inefficient management. Don’t work with them.
• If we replaced the inefficient management, we could turn this company around.

• This department has suffered from weak management for the last ten years.
• There is a culture of weak management in this organization.

• This company needs some strong management to take on the unions.
• We need strong management in this company, but not too aggressive.