The wage rate is the pre-tax amount of payment, usually monetary, paid per unit of labour. It is the main monetary item that the worker and the employer focus on.

For example, in the United States this would be the number of dollars per day, per hour or per month paid. At the present time in the USA the wage rate for manual labour might be $10 or up to say $70 per hour depending on the type of work done and the geographical location.

In addition to the hourly figure above, the employee and employer can be expected to agree other features of a benefit package e.g. the structure of any pension arrangements, the notice period, holiday entitlement, required hours of work (usually per week), health insurance benefits (if any) and retirement conditions. All of the above, including the wage rate, are usually described in an employment contract that is agreed between the employer and employee at the commencement of the period of employment.

Depending on the structure and traditions of different economies around the world, wage rates are either market driven (the USA) or influenced by other factors such as tradition, social structure and seniority (e.g. Japan).

In several countries around the world there is a statutory minimum wage rate that has been introduced to prevent the exploitation of low-paid workers. Some people believe that the effect of introducing a minimum wage is to discourage the employment of people who, in the absence of the statutory minimum wage, would have earned a wage below the introduced minimum.