Employment

Many businesses in the United States hire people on a trial basis. That is, they are hired for a probationary period. This trial period can last from one month to three years, depending on the job. During this time, a person’s performance is carefully evaluated, and at the end of it, the employee receives a review. If the review is favorable, the employee will be given the benefits of other regular full-staff time. If not, the employee is usually told his/her performance did not meet the company expectations, and employment there simply comes to an end. The employee understands right from the beginning that he/she may not be kept on after the probationary period.

However, it is possible for an employee to be fired at any time. The custom is that after the probationary period a person will usually only be fired for cause (unsatisfactory performance, excessive absence or lateness, stealing, etc.) or because the company is not making enough profit to justify keeping all its employees. In such cases, the employee is usually notified a few weeks in advance or is given the equivalent amount in pay. Often the employee is told about his/her dismissal in a conference with the supervisor, but sometimes a company will simply include a “pink slip” along with a paycheck. To get such a “pink slip” means you are fired.

Work in pairs: put 10 questions to the text. Take turns in asking and answering the questions.

2M to face job check on uk status

Two million people each year will face passport or identity checks when they change jobs, under plans unveiled on Monday by the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, to crack down on the employment of illegal immigrants. Employers’ organizations continued to express concern about the checks, which official estimates say will cost business 24 million pounds. Companies will face 5,000 pounds fines if they do not check on new employees.

Immigration welfare groups claimed the scheme marked a shift towards European-style internal immigration controls. “We need to act to deter employers from giving jobs to people from abroad who are here illegally. The fact that these people can get jobs quite easily is one of the main reasons why the United Kingdom is seen as an attractive destination to asylum-seekers,” Mr Howard said.

At the same time, he announced further measures to speed up processing of asylum applications. They included removing the right of people who have come via a “safe third country” such as France or Germany to remain in Britain while they appeal against an asylum refusal. Sentences of up to seven years’ imprisonment are to be made available against racketeers who use deception to get around immigration controls. But it is the new criminal sanctions against companies which employ illegal immigrants – the subject of a fierce battle in Cabinet – which attracted most criticism.

Mr Howard published two consultation documents outlining how the employers’ scheme will work, and the likely costs for Britain’s 1.2 million companies.

The scheme involves companies checking the national insurance numbers of all new staff. But it recognizes that of the 14 million people who change jobs each year, two million do not have a national insurance number. These will have to provide passports, birth certificates or other documents to prove they are here legally.

The Home Office estimates 1.6 million of these are British citizens, a further 200,000 are other European Union citizens and the remaining 200,000 from non-EU countries. Some of the last group will be illegal migrants. The scheme would cost business 13.5 million pounds to set up and 11.5 million pounds a year to run.

The Institute of Directors said it was concerned at the costs, while the Confederation of British Industry remained skeptical. Claude Moraes, director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: “This is … a historic shift to a regime of internal immigration controls which is intricate, punitive and will damage race relations.”

Summarize the main idea of the text in 7-8 sentences. Use your own words. Don’t copy sentences from the article.

UNIT 6

JOBS AND GENDER

Secretarial jobs

What do the jobs below involve?

secretary, telephonist, temp, personal assistant (PA).

Work in pairs. Think of words to describe what makes a good secretary.

Look at the words below. Do they usually describe men or women at work?

high-powered, dedicated, catty, emotional, likely to be sick, capable of doing more than one thing at a time, logical, flexible.

Read the following words:

company, originally, employ, temp, impress, offer, own, cause, accuse, unfair, advertise, surprise, suddenly, efficient, suggestion, fluently, client.

Read and translate the following word combination:

a top executive, personal assistant, to feel very angry about this, secretarial skills, to get best jobs, to defend the decision, to work very hard.

Read the text and answer the questions below:

TEXT

Stella Bristow is a top executive in an Australian company. She originally employed Macro Balla as a temp, but she was so impressed with him that she decided to offer him a job as her own personal assistant.

This caused problems in the company, as other secretaries accused Ms Bristow of being unfair. "She didn’t advertise the job at all. No one knew she was looking for a PA, and so we were very surprised when Marco suddenly got the job. I feel very angry about this. There are a lot of other secretaries here, and some of them have been with the company for a very long time. Macro's only been here for six months, and I don't think his secretarial skills are better than anybody else's. It seems that even in secretarial work, men still get me best jobs," says Sonia Mochel, secretary in the company for twelve years.

Ms Bristow defended her decision to employ Mr Balla. "Mr Balla is efficient and professional. While he was working as a temp he worked very hard and made a lot of useful suggestions. He also speaks several languages fluently, and

communicates well with the company's clients."

1. What did Marco Balla do before he became a PA?

2. Did the other secretaries know that Ms Bristow wanted a PA? Why? Why not?

3. Does Sonia think Macro is the best person for a job? Why? Why not?

4. Does Ms Bristow agree with Sonia? Why? Why not?

There are some words in bold in the text. Do you know what they mean? Guess the meanings of the words you don't know.

Now match the words on the left with the correct meaning on the right.

1. originally a. fast and accurate

2. her own b. make something happen

3. cause c. say that someone has done something

4. accuse d. in the beginning

5. unfair e. only hers

6. efficient f. not giving everyone the same chance

Fill in the blanks with the following words:

PA, secretaries, efficient, suggestions, professional, suddenly.

1. Mr Balla is ... and....

2. There are a lot of other... here.

3. He worked very hard and made a lot of_useful....

4. No one knew she was looking for a....

5. We were very surprised when Marco ... got the job.

Find synonyms among the following words:

at first, facility, administrative head, offer, company, want, unexpectedly, propose, executive, originally, to make up one's mind, job, suddenly, look for, skill, firm, decide, work.

Find antonyms among the following words:

social, look for, dismiss, unfair, a lot of, rest, find, long, fair, best, employ, impress, worst, disappoint, short, personal, work, few.

Translate from Russian into English:

главный директор, принимать на работу, временный секретарь, предложить кому-либо работу, личный секретарь, обвинять кого-либо • в несправедливости, объявлять о вакансии на должность, внезапно получить должность, практические навыки секретаря, работа секретаря, решение принять на работу, быть исполнительным и профессиональным, работать временным секретарем, усердно работать, вносить полезные предложения, свободно говорить на нескольких языках, клиенты компании.

Give the past simple and past participle of these verbs:

to be, to know, to get, to feel, to have, to do, to think, to make, to speak.

Change the meaning of the following words to the opposite by adding the negative prefixes -un, -im, -in. Translate the words:

employment, personal, fair, efficient, professional.

Make up sentences using the following words:

1. in, company, Stella Bristow, a, executive; is, Australian, top, an.

2. very, job, when, we, Marco, the, surprised, suddenly, were, got.

3. better skills, I, else's, his, think, than, secretarial, anybody, don't, are.

4. as a temp, hard, while, suggestions, he, a lot of, working, very, he, useful, and, was, worked, made.

5. languages, also, he, fluently, several, speaks.

Fill in prepositions:

1. She was so impressed ... him that she decided to offer him a job as her own PA.

2. Other secretaries accused Ms Bristow ... being unfair

3. She didn't advertise the job ... all.

4. No one knew she was looking ... a PA. 5.1 feel very angry ... it.

6. She was a secretary ... the company ... twelve years.

7. He communicates well... the company's clients.

Put questions to the underlined words:

1. Ms Bristow is a top executive in an Australian company.

2. Marco's only been for six months.

3. Ms Bristow defended her decision to employ Mr Balla.

4. He also speaks several languages fluently.

5. He communicates well with the company's clients.

Do you think Ms Bristow is right to employ Mr Balla as her PA? Why? Why not? Write your opinion.

* * *

JOB MOBILITY

Job mobility is simply moving from one job to another. Americans change jobs more often than people in most other countries. A typical American's first job might be as a fast-food worker, dishwasher, or typist. But that job is likely to be temporary. In the meantime, the person will be gaining practical experience, making professional contacts, building a reputation, studying on the side, and seeking other opportunities. Thus, the waitress in a diner may also be a law school student, and a future judge or senator.

Even people who are well established in their careers continue to look for jobs that provide better pay, more responsibility, and more prestige.

Read about new business and job creation in the USA. Working with your partner, consider the questions below.