Works

A. Collocations words connected with work:

1. It’s not easy to get/ find work round these parts.
2. I’ve been offered work/ a job in Paris.
3. What do you do for a living? I’m in publishing/ banking, etc.
4. It’s hard to make a living as a freelance writer. (earn enough money to live comfortably)
5. She’s not prepared to take on that job (suggests ‘having personal responsibility’)

B. Hours of Work

1. To do shift-work or to work shifts (nights one week, days the next week)
2. To be on flexi-time (flexible working hours)
3. To work nine-to-five (regular day work)

C. Not working

1. To go/ be on strike (industrial dispute)
2. To get the sack (thrown out of your job)
3. To be fired (more formal than ‘get the sack’; often used as a direct address: ‘You’re fired!’)
4. To be made redundant (thrown out, no longer needed)
5. To be laid off (more informal that ‘made redundant’)
6. To give up work (e.g. in order to study)
7. To be on/ take maternity (woman) or paternity (man) leave (before/ after the birth of a baby)
8. To be on/ take sick leave (illness)
9. To take early retirement (retire at 55)

D. Other useful expressions

1. To be a workaholic (love work too much)
2. To be promoted (get a higher position)
3. To apply for a job (fill in forms, etc.)

(Source: English Vocabulary in Use, Cambridge University Press)