Legal Definitions - payroll

Payroll is a list of employees who work for a company and are paid for their work. This list shows how much each employee earns and may include senior employees like managers. It also refers to the total amount of money that a company must pay to its employees. The human resources or accounting department usually manages payroll.

• John works for XYZ Company and earns $20 per hour. He works 40 hours a week, so his weekly pay is $800. John's name is on the company's payroll.
• ABC Company has 50 employees, and their total monthly payroll is $100,000. This means that the company pays an average of $2,000 per employee per month.

The first example shows how an employee's pay is calculated and how their name is included in the company's payroll. The second example illustrates the total amount of money that a company must pay to all its employees, which is known as the payroll.