employee

noun

em·​ploy·​ee im-ˌplȯ(i)-ˈē 

(ˌ)em-;

im-ˈplȯ(i)-ˌē 

em-

variants or less commonly employe

: one employed by another usually for wages or salary and in a position below the executive level

Synonyms

• hand
• hireling
• jobholder
• retainer
• worker

Examples of employee in a Sentence

A good boss listens to his employees.

The company has more than 2,000 employees worldwide.

Recent Examples on the Web

Start doing everything within your power to drive, support, and reward those high priority behaviors in every employee within your sphere. —Bruce Tulgan, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025

Environment Forest Service layoffs will leave the U.S. more prone to wildfires, employees say A 2024 Pew Research Center poll showed that the park service had the most favorable rating of any government agency at 76%, with strong support from a majority of both Democrats and Republicans. —Rachel Treisman, NPR, 26 Feb. 2025

Some procurement organizations complicate oversight by obscuring their open offers, according to current or former employees at 14 organizations. —Brian M. Rosenthal, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2025

Musk has slashed the ranks of federal employees, shut down agencies whose authority challenges his own, and leveraged artificial intelligence to decide where to cut, promising a government executed by chatbots such as Grok, from Musk’s own A.I. company. —Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

employ entry 1 + -ee entry 1, perhaps after French employé

First Known Use

1822, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

employee

noun

em·​ploy·​ee im-ˌplȯi-ˈē  (ˌ)em- 

im-ˈplȯi-ˌē,

em-

: one who works for another for wages or a salary

Legal Definition

employee

noun

em·​ploy·​ee

variants also employe

: a person usually below the executive level who is hired by another to perform a service especially for wages or salary and is under the other's control see also respondeat superior compare independent contractor

Note: In determining whether an individual is an employee, courts look at several factors, including the nature of the compensation paid, provision for employee benefits, whether the hired party is in business, tax treatment of the hired party, source of the equipment used, and location of the work. Statutes, such as workers' compensation acts and labor laws, usually include a definition of employee as it is used in the statute.