Chapter 6 Employment Basics Key
1. Employers are usually charged a flat fee to place classified ads in the newspaper.
2. Social Security tax is paid on all your income while Medicare tax is paid up to the maximum taxable income
amount.
3. Blinko’s charges $24.99 to print 100 top-quality single-page resumes. Each additional 50 copies cost $10.
This cost, r(x) written as a piecewise function is:
4. The purpose of worker’s compensation is to offer benefits to eligible employees that have become
unemployed.
5. Bruce is paid semimonthly so he receives 24 paychecks a year.
6. McKenzie sells textbooks. She receives 7% on her first $1,000 in sales and 15% on the balance of her sales.
If her sales in one month were $14,500, she would earn $2,025 in commission.
7. Jim was offered a job as a computer programmer making 65K per year. Another company offered Jim a
position earning $1,200 a week. The job with the 65K salary pays more.
8. Royalty is a percentage paid on the money earned from sales on items such as tickets, books, artwork, and
music CDs.
9. Cherie accepted a job through an employment agency. The job pays $1,100 a week. The agency charges 30%
of her first 4 weeks pay. To find the amount she owes the agency, she should multiply her first four weeks’
salary by 0.03.
10. This spreadsheet calculates a yearly pension. The formulas are entered in column B. What is the spreadsheet
formula for B7?
A
B
1
Pension Percentage
2
Years Worked
3
Year 1 Salary
4
Year 2 Salary
5
Year 3 Salary
6
Average Salary
7
Yearly Pension
11. In 2008, Yolanda paid $3,875 in Social Security tax. If the Social Security tax rate was 6.2% to the
maximum income of $94,200 that year, what was Yolanda’s taxable income?
13. In 2005, Lee began working as a nurse anesthetist with a taxable income of $119,000. The Medicare tax was
1.45% and the Social Security tax rate was 6.2% to the maximum income of $90,000 that year. How much did
Lee pay in FICA taxes in 2005?
14. Catalina works part-time at a bakery earning $7.50 an hour. In the last five days, her time card shows that
she worked 3.3, 2.9, 4.0, 3.5, and 2.1 hours. What is her gross pay for the five days?
15. Miquel pays $47 semimonthly for health insurance which is 15% of the total cost. His employer pays the
16. This piecewise function represents the Social Security taxes for 2009. How much did Rachel pay in Social
Security tax if she earned $102,000 in 2009?
17. Federal and state laws provide rules on the lowest hourly rate that can be paid to a worker in the United
States. What is that rate called?
18. Pimmi gets paid $0.50 for the first 100 craft kits that she assembles. She earns $0.75 for each kit over 100.
This week she assembled 135 kits. How much did she earn?
19. Michelle receives 32K per year as an assistant fast food manager. Her benefits include health insurance,
paid holidays, retirement contributions, and a 2-week paid vacation each year. Because she wears a uniform,
Michelle calculates that she saves $2,500 on clothing costs per year. She constructed this table to show the
value of each benefit. What is her annual salary, including benefits?
Benefit
Value
Health Insurance
$8,250
Paid Holidays
$920
Retirement Contributions
$4,500
Paid Vacation
$1,230
Uniform Supplied
$2,500
20. Marcus earned $54,000 last year when the Social Security tax was 6.2% of income up to $94,200. His
Medicare tax was 1.45%. How much did he pay in Social Security and Medicare taxes last year?
21. Maryanne began a job that gives her 3 days of vacation each year she is employed, up to a maximum of 24
days of vacation time. How many years will she be at the company before she reaches the maximum amount of
vacation time?
22. Mrs. Brown has been working in a factory for 28 years. She is preparing to retire. Her pension is calculated
on the average of her last 3 years’ salaries where she earned $38,592, $37,590, and $37,010. Her employer will
give her 1.8% of that average for each year she worked. Calculate her pension.
23. Juanita gets paid for every apron she embroiders. Last week she earned $185. If she earns $2.50 for each
embroidered piece, how many aprons did she embroider last week?
25. Singh works at a restaurant where he is paid by the hour plus time-and-a-half for his hours over 40. Last
week he worked 3 hours overtime and his gross pay was $380.48. What is his hourly wage?
26. If Leona receives her paycheck biweekly, how many checks does she receive in a year?
27. Nancy was laid off and applied for unemployment benefits in July. In her state, the weekly unemployment
benefit is 55% of the 26-week average of the two highest-salaried quarters of the year leading to her application.
In April, May, and June, Nancy earned a total of $13,500. In January, February, and March her total income
was $12,775. What will Nancy’s weekly benefits be?
28. Katelyn sells cars at a used car dealer on commission. The car lot pays a 18% commission when the profit
on a car is under $400, 22% when the profit is at least $400 and less than $1,000, and 24% when the profit is
$1,000 or more. Write a piecewise function to represent the commission, c(x) as a function of the profit, x.
29. Emily wants to have her resume printed. The printing company charges $24.50 for the first 100 resumes,
and then a flat rate for each additional 100 resumes. Emily pays $48.50 for 300 resumes. How much is the flat
rate after the first 100 resumes are purchased?
30. Alan earned a dollars last year. This year he received a raise of c dollars. He is paid biweekly. Express the