History of payroll - ADP ReThink Q

Thank goodness it’s Friday? Although we take it for granted, the working week as we know it faced strong resistance.

Coal company scrip paid to miners often left them deep in debt

The tokens paid in lieu of cash were abundant in remote areas of the U.S. until the mid-20th century, explains history professor Lou Martin.

The birth of paper money in China

The advent of printed money, called jiaozi, in China changed the world and how people get paid.

Cowries, the currency that powered West Africa

For centuries, cowrie shells were a driving currency behind the slave trade. But their impact across Africa goes back much further than that.

How time-tracking clocks shaped the working world

Despite being thoroughly embedded in today’s professional life, “clocking in” is a relatively modern invention.

The origins of white collar vs. blue collar

The collared divide of occupations emerged in the 1930s, following more than a century of changes in the nature of work and clothing.

Ithaca Hours and time-based currencies

An experiment in 1990s New York was a fairly recent example of a centuries-old idea: local currency projects based on labor.

How digitizing payroll set the scene for a cashless society

When companies started embracing direct bank deposits for employees’ wages 50 years ago, it laid the foundation for today’s digital cash.

Khipu, the ancient Inka accounting system

Long before Excel, accountants of the Inka Empire used knotted strings called khipu, or quipu, to record taxes and stock.

Cuneiform tablets reveal secrets of Mesopotamian payroll

Early payroll records were among humans’ first steps toward a writing system, explains Ali H.O. Bnayan, an archaeologist and cuneiform expert from the Iraq Museum.

The Denominator, a device for counting money

Mechanical tabulation changed the game for payroll clerks in the early 20th century.

Cashier check ‘kebabs’ sum up Naples’ financial history

This Italian port city was a business hub for centuries, and all its dealings were documented on slips of paper strung up like meat.

The long evolution of minimum wage

Real-life experiments show that increasing minimum wages doesn’t affect employment rates, but does help relieve poverty.

50 years of SWIFT

How the introduction of secure cross-border bank messaging changed international business forever.

How debit cards changed our lives

After debuting in the 1970s, debit cards took hold in the 1990s and 2000s, changing how we spend our hard-earned money.

How the rise of cash machines changed payday

After payroll went digital, people still needed cash, mobbing bank branches on paydays. In the 1970s, banks started making big investments in a new innovation: the Automated Teller Machine.

Monetary integration and common currencies

How and why independent states give up their own money in the pursuit of a joint, cross-regional currency.

The first coins in Ancient Greece

Trade and commerce existed long before coins, but the idea of money was a revelation and a revolution.

The long road to ban child labor

Industrialization led to an increased focus on banning child labor, but the efforts continue in the modern day.

The rise and fall of the paper paycheck

The story of the paycheck is one of unrealized potential. Learn how this payroll innovation went out of fashion as quickly as it came.

Labor actions in the ancient world

Strikes, a symptom of broken trust between worker and employer, date back to Ancient Egypt and Rome.

The very first calculating machine

Four centuries ago, during a time of great innovation, Wilhelm Schickard invented the first-ever calculating machine in Germany.