节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-07-24
难易度:High
关键字:by leaps and bounds, freelancer, induce, stationery, payroll tax
In our lesson today "New Employee?" Ben and his Uncle Bob are talking about
Ben's growing business.
Actually, it's growing by leaps and bounds, which is great.
So Ben thinks he needs some help.
He already has some freelancers working on some projects, but he thinks he needs
some full-time help.
However, Uncle Bob doesn't think that's necessarily a great idea, and he has
some good questions for Ben.
He has a question, "Are you ready for it?" And we're going to see how Ben
responds and how this conversation plays out.
So let's continue with our lesson.
(Music).
New Employees?
Sure.
How hard can it be to hire a couple of employees?
I'm not saying it's hard.
But employees can induce big changes in the way your company works.
How?
Well, there are lots of ways.
Take costs for example.
The cost of an employee goes far beyond pay.
I guess that's true.
I'll need to pay for things like benefits and payroll taxes.
That's right.
And there are other indirect costs, too.
You'll need to buy office furniture, computers and a lot more stationery for
your employees to use.
And parking.
I'll need to get more parking spots.
Exactly.
(Music).
There are a lot of different things that need to be considered when hiring new
employees, it sounds like.
Well, at the beginning of this section, Ben has the first line, so I will begin
if that's OK, Gabe.
Of course, because I'm already Uncle Bob.
Here you go, Ben.
OK.
Oh, well. Great.
So responding to Uncle Bob's question about whether or not he's ready to hire
new employees:
Sure. How hard can it be to hire a couple of employees?
I'm going to stop you right there, Carolyn.
And I think that's a great sentence that Ben had: How hard can it be to do
something?
Usually you ask this question if you think something is easy or it seems like
it's not too hard, you say:
How hard can it be to do something?
But sometimes this question is followed up with: Actually, it's... it's quite
hard.
Sometimes things might seem easy, but they are actually quite difficult.
Anyhow, Uncle Bob does continue.
I'm not saying it's hard.
But employees can induce big changes in the way your company works.
Great.
You just used a word from our Would Bank, Gabe... Uncle Bob, the word "induce."
If you induce something,
then you cause it to happen, maybe before it was time to happen.
That's right.
OK, you're inducing something.
Aw, the weather, it... it induced us to change our plans over the weekend.
We couldn't have a picnic outside.
We had to do something inside.
It... it induced this.
It caused this change.
Well, and Uncle Bob is talking about big changes that can be induced when you
hire new employees.
It does change a lot of different things.
And Ben asks: How?
He's not quite sure what kind of changes it's going to create.
Well, there are a lot of ways.
Take costs for example.
The cost of an employee goes far beyond pay.
Oh, it goes far beyond pay.
So it's not just you need to think about how much you're going to pay your
employees, how much your payroll should be.
P-A-Y-R-O-L-L, payroll.
This is the amount of money that you pay each month to your employees.
That's right.
But it goes beyond that.
Let's look at that phrase.
"To go beyond something" means that there is much more to think about or much
more to consider.
It's true.
For example, a teacher's responsibilities go beyond the classroom.
Of course it's very important to teach well in the classroom, but there's a lot
of preparation to do.
And for that matter, a student's responsibilities go beyond the classroom as
well.
They have a lot of homework that they should do well.
That's right.
So there are many things that go beyond just what you might think about at
first.
Think about how you can use this phrase in your English.
Try writing it down or using it in a conversation.
Ben continues in his conversation:
I guess that's true.
I'll need to pay for things like benefits and payroll taxes.
And that is very true. OK.
It goes beyond these things, just simple pay.
He needs to think about benefits and payroll taxes.
You know, a payroll tax...
It's taxes paid from the funds of an employer, like Ben, directly related to
employing a worker.
So if he is going to hire a worker, then he has to pay taxes.
It's not the taxes coming from his employee.
It's taxes coming from him.
All right. So he has to think about these kinds of things if he's going to hire
a full-time employee.
That's right.
And he also has to think about benefits, which is something Steve and Ken would
like to talk about in the Information Cloud.
Let's talk about benefits today.
And by benefits, I mean employee benefits.
"Perquisites" is another name for it.
But the more common name is the abbreviated version "perks," P-E-R-K-S.
You may also hear it referred to as fringe benefits.
This is compensation provided to employees in addition to their normal salaries.
Perks can range from little things like free stationery to lunch allowances, to
a gym membership, to a vehicle.
Or a vehicle with a driver.
That would be a nice perk.
Yes, it would.
And do you know what job in the world has the best perks, Steve?
Sure. That would have to be the President of the United States.
He has his own jumbo jet, his own helicopter and limousines.
He has a large staff that works for him in the White House.
He has his own personal resort, Camp David, where he can go for a retreat.
The president also receives a very large allowance to cover official
entertainment and travel costs.
These are all presidential perks.
Sounds like a cushy job.
(Chinese).
Thank you, gentlemen.
Well, the Info Cloud is certainly one of the perks at Studio Classroom.
OK. We're going to continue this conversation, and Uncle Bob has the next line.
That's right.
And there are other indirect costs, too.
You'll need to buy office furniture, computers and a lot more stationery for
your employees to use.
Great, Uncle Bob.
You just came to a word in our Word Bank, the word "stationery." And stationery
is office supplies, anything you need to write.
So pens, paper, pencils, envelopes, those sorts of things.
All of those kinds of things.
And remember, this word is the same whether it's plural or singular.
So there's no S at this... on the end of this word stationery.
And of course you could go to a stationery store and pick up things there for
your office or your homework.
That's right.
And Ben has the next line: And parking.
I'll need to get more parking spots.
Exactly.
So these are a lot of things Ben needs to consider or think about if he's going
to hire full-time employees.
He's got to shell out a lot more money than he thinks.
All right.
It's time for us to enjoy a review skit.
And then we'll see Michelle in the Language Lab.
Well, hello, Ben. How are you today?
I'm great! Thanks for asking.
How's the business coming along?
It's growing by leaps and bounds.
That's great.
Well, yes and no.
I'm having trouble getting all the work done.
I need help.
I thought you already had help.
Well, yes... and no.
We have a few freelancers.
But I need some full-time help.
Oh, that's a big step.
Are you sure you're ready for it?
Well, yes! And... no.
Employees can induce big changes in your company.
Yes, like helping me do the work.
Well, yeah.
But the cost of employees goes far beyond the paycheck.
Oh, like benefits and payroll taxes?
Yes, and a lot of indirect costs as well.
Indirect costs? Like what?
You'll need to buy office furniture and computers and stationery items.
Oh, I didn't think about those hidden costs.
Of course you didn't.
They're hidden.
You can't see them.
Very funny, Uncle Bob.
Yeah, I am pretty funny.
Yeah. You have hidden humor.
OK.
(Chinese).
And now let's go back and see what our teachers are doing.
In our BUSINESS article today, we've been talking about hiring new employees and
whether or not Ben should think about it or if he is ready to hire full-time
employees.
Uncle Bob has been giving him some advice.
But what do you think?
Do you think he should hire full-time employees?
Gabe?
Well, I don't know.
See, if I were Ben, then I would probably need an accountant to help with my
business because I'm not very good.
Or I guess I could just go to school to learn how to do that kind of thing.
Or marry someone nice like Sandy who could help me do it.
No, I guess I wouldn't hire full-time employees, Carolyn.
Oh. Well, Ben is still thinking about it, and we have a lot more to learn from
the rest of this lesson tomorrow right here on Studio Classroom.
So we'll see you then.