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

And that's like $6 billion of stock have gone into those employees. —CBS News, 28 Dec. 2025

But through creative scheduling and planning their PTO around holidays, an employee with just 11 vacation days could unlock 41 days in 2026, according to Holiday Optimizer, a service that provides custom vacation calendars to maximize the number of days off. —Michael Cappetta, Travel + Leisure, 28 Dec. 2025

Five Quruxlow employees are too afraid to come to work despite having green cards, its owner said. —Dee Depass Star Tribune, Arkansas Online, 28 Dec. 2025

Other federal employees also worked without pay , leading to a pullback in consumer spending. —Sean Conlon, CNBC, 28 Dec. 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.