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 of employee

• 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

City officials said the person killed on Friday was City of Midland employee Ed Scott, who was known as longtime member of the local softball community and a devoted husband and father. —Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 13 June 2026

All employees and staff at the facility were evacuated safely. —Lyanne Wang, CBS News, 13 June 2026

The study was funded by Unilever and all authors are Unilever employees, so independent replication is still needed. —Allison Palmer june 12, Miami Herald, 12 June 2026

Most employees now spend over six hours a week of their workday babysitting their work chatbots, the survey said. —Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026

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.