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

The years when the federal government turned on its own citizens, corporations fired employees accused of subversion, and neighbors spied on neighbors had long since ended. —Literary Hub, 21 Jan. 2026

Former employees and hyperbaric chamber experts testified throughout the past couple of months that the facility failed to use grounding straps as early as 2017, something one former employee testified to not always being the case. —Jack Springgate, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026

Recent layoffs across the industry have dampened employee pushback, said Margaret O'Mara, a tech historian at the University of Washington. —Joseph Menn The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 21 Jan. 2026

Khan and another Aven employee will sit on Haven’s five-person board of directors. —Jeff Kauflin, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 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.