Salary is paid to \\\"exempt\\\" employees. These are people who do not have to account for the hours they put into the job; rather they are paid to get the job done. They still have to account for holidays, sick days and vacation days, just not the individual hours. Often they get bonuses or other incentives since these jobs are largely management, sales or project related. Wages are paid to \\\"non-exempt\\\" or \\\"hourly\\\" employees. These people account for their time on a time card or other record keeping system. Depending on the company, they may earn overtime for extra hours, or be expected to take time off to offset any late hours within the same time period. Usually the employee has to have worked a full 40 hour week to earn overtime. By the way, the employer does not have the right to amend a time card without employee permission/initial.