Wage

A **Wage** is the expected payout for Working at a specific Job.

Each Job listed at the Employment Office offers a specific Wage. The offered Wage for each Job is calculated based on its inherent "value" compared to other jobs, as well as the current state of the Economy. Wages for different jobs keep the same proportions to each other - so that one job will always pay more or less than another job, even as the Economy fluctuates.

As long as a player keeps their Job, their Wage will not change except by direct action (asking for a Raise, or applying for another job) or due to a very rare Market Crash event. A player's current Wage is listed in their Statistics Screen.

Whenever the player Works at their Job, they earn 8 times their current Wage. This assumes at least 6 Hours are left on the clock, otherwise the amount is reduced proportionally to the time left that Turn. If the player owes a Rent Debt, Garnishment takes away just over half of the earnings to pay for it.

## Offered Wages

At the Employment Office, each Job is listed next to its current offered Wage.

The offered Wage for each job is based on an internal value - a "Base Wage" - that is set in the code and never changes. This is then adjusted according to the strength of the Economy, so that a better Economy results in higher offered Wages.

The final Offered Wage can be anywhere between 50% and 250% of the job's "Base Wage". The same percentage is applied to each and every offered Wage, so that one specific job will always offer more or less than another specific job.

The economic component of Wages is identical to the economic adjustment applied to Item prices. Thus, as items cost less, the offered Wage for all jobs in the game is reduced by the same percentage.

The game will not prevent a player from applying for a job that makes *less* than their current Wage. However it will prevent them from asking for the same Job they currently hold at a lower or equal Wage to what they are already making.

## Earnings

Whenever a player successfully Works at their Job (i.e. not fired or out of time), they receive an amount of money corresponding to their current **Wage**.

Wages are listed in the player's Statistics screen as being "$X per Hour". However this is not accurately represented in the game; Players actually receive 33% more per Hour of work than this number indicates.

If at least 6 Hours are left on the clock, Working advances the clock by 6 exactly Hours, and the player receives **8 times their current Wage**.

If fewer than 6 Hours are left on the clock, the clock is advanced to the end of the Turn, and the payment is reduced proportionally to the number of hours remaining:

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{\displaystyle Earnings = {8 \times Current \ Wage \times Hours \ Remaining \over 6}}

All Earnings are paid in Cash. This poses a risk to players working at Black's Market, as they can get robbed by Wild Willy as soon as they leave this location. Similarly, players working at the Bank have an even higher risk of getting robbed on their way out of work, but can easily deposit most (or all) of their Cash at the Bank before leaving, to prevent this from having any serious effect.

### Garnishment

Main article: Garnishment
If the player owes any Rent Debt by failing to pay their Rent at the end of the Month, the game will begin to Garnish their earnings each time they Work.

As long as the player is in Rent Debt, half of the money earned for each Work session is deducted from their earnings, and is used to wipe out an equal amount of debt. An additional $2 are taken away to pay for Interest Fees. The remaining 50% minus $2 are handed to the player in Cash.

If the player's Rent Debt is smaller than half their earnings, that amount is deducted from the player's earnings and the Rent Debt is entirely cleared; The player receives the rest without having to pay a $2 Interest Fee.

Once the Rent Debt is cleared, further Work sessions pay out as normal.

## Raises

Main article: Raise
If the player's current Job is offered at the Employment Office at a higher Wage than the player's current Wage, they may select that Job to ask for a Raise.

Raises can be refused if the player's Dependibility is too low. Otherwise, the player's Wage is raised to the listed amount.

Each time the player is approved for a Raise, additional attempts to get a Raise while holding the same job require higher and higher Dependibility. Switching to a different Job resets this counter.

## Pay Cuts

Main article: Market Crash
If a Moderate Market Crash event occurs, all players have a 50% chance of losing their Job instantly. A player who manages to keep their job will instead have their Wage cut to 80% of its current value (rounded down).

This is the only way that a player's Wage can drop (other than actively switching to a lower-paying job).

If the economy improves, the player may be able to return to their previous wage (or a better one) by requesting a Raise.

## Bank Loans

Main article: Loans
Having a higher Wage increases the chance of getting a Bank Loan. It also increases the amount of money the Bank is willing to pay out if the loan is approved.

The Wage is just one of several factors affecting this mechanic.