Workplace Comprehension: Policies, Schedules and Pay

Language · Grades 9–12 · 16 cards · about 20 min

Read the documents a first job actually hands you and answer what they require.

Your schedule reads: Tue 4:00p-8:00p, Thu 4:00p-8:00p, Sat 10:00a-6:00p. How many hours are you scheduled?
Say it out loud

What's in this activity

  • Your schedule reads: Tue 4:00p-8:00p, Thu 4:00p-8:00p, Sat 10:00a-6:00p. How many hours are you scheduled?
  • 12 | 14 | 16 | 20
  • Policy: 'Call the store manager at least two hours before your shift if you cannot work.' Your shift starts at 4:00 p.m. and you wake up sick at 3:00 p.m. What should you do?
  • Say nothing and stay home | Call immediately and explain, even though it is inside two hours | Text a coworker instead | Wait until 4:00 to call
  • Your pay stub shows Gross Pay $420.00 and Net Pay $351.60. What accounts for the difference?
  • A bonus | Overtime you earned | Taxes and deductions | An employer mistake
  • Policy: 'One paid 15-minute break per 4 hours worked, plus one unpaid 30-minute meal break on shifts over 6 hours.' What does an 8-hour shift entitle you to?
  • One 15-minute break only | Two 15-minute breaks and one 30-minute meal break | One 30-minute break only | Three 15-minute breaks
  • The posting says 'Must be available weekends and evenings.' You have practice every Saturday morning. What is the honest move?
  • Say you are fully available | Say nothing and sort it out later | Say you are available weekends except Saturday mornings | Don't apply at all
  • A sign reads: 'Employees must wash hands before returning to work.' Who does this apply to?
  • Customers | Managers only | Every employee | Kitchen staff only
  • Your manager says: 'Restock aisle four, then face the shelves, and clock out by nine.' What do you do SECOND?
  • Clock out | Restock aisle four | Face the shelves | Take your break
  • Your W-4 asks for withholding information. What is it used for?
  • Setting your schedule | Deciding how much tax comes out of each paycheck | Reporting your grades | Choosing your uniform size

About this activity

Sixteen questions about the documents a first job actually hands you: a schedule reading Tue 4-8, Thu 4-8, Sat 10-6 — how many hours are you scheduled; a policy requiring a call two hours before a shift you cannot work, and you wake up sick an hour before; a pay stub showing gross pay of $420 and net pay of $351.60 — what accounts for the difference; a break policy of one paid fifteen-minute break per four hours.

How to use it in a session

Bring the student's own documents if they have them. The board establishes the reading and a real pay stub proves it transferred, and a real one will raise questions this board does not cover. The call-when-sick item is the most valuable, because the correct answer — call anyway, even though it is inside the window — is the one students get wrong by reasoning from the rule rather than from the purpose of it.

What to listen for

Watch the pay stub item. Gross against net is the single most common source of confusion in a first job, and a student who expects their whole hourly rate will think they have been underpaid. Notice the schedule arithmetic, which requires reading times across three lines and adding — a language demand and a maths one at once.

Carrying it home

A real pay stub or schedule is the best material there is. Going through one together takes ten minutes and answers questions the student was unlikely to ask.

Questions

What grades is this for?
Ninth through twelfth, aligned with transition and independent living goals.
Do I need an account?
No, all sixteen items are free to use here.
Why is this a language target?
Because it is comprehension of dense text in an unfamiliar register with real financial consequences. Misreading a policy costs a shift, and misreading a pay stub costs a student's confidence in their employer.