{"id":3811,"date":"2024-08-31T19:06:58","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T18:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/?page_id=3811"},"modified":"2024-08-31T19:07:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T18:07:00","slug":"history-payroll","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-payroll\/","title":{"rendered":"History of payroll"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/meta>Explore interesting stories from the history of payroll, money and accounting that show how we got where we are today.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n The history of the weekend<\/span>\n

Thank goodness it\u2019s Friday? Although we take it for granted, the working week as we know it faced strong resistance.<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n Coal company scrip paid to miners often left them deep in debt<\/span>\n

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.<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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Paper currency was in circulation in China six centuries earlier than in Western countries<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/a><\/div>\n\n

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\n The birth of paper money in China<\/span>\n

The advent of printed money, called jiaozi, in China changed the world and how people get paid.<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\n Cowries, the currency that powered West Africa<\/span>\n

For centuries, cowrie shells were a driving currency behind the slave trade. But their impact across Africa goes back much further than that. \n<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n How time-tracking clocks shaped the working world<\/span>\n

Despite being thoroughly embedded in today\u2019s professional life, \u201cclocking in\u201d is a relatively modern invention.\n<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n The origins of white collar vs. blue collar<\/span>\n

The collared divide of occupations emerged in the 1930s, following more than a century of changes in the nature of work and clothing.<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\n Ithaca Hours and time-based currencies\u00a0<\/span>\n

An experiment in 1990s New York was a fairly recent example of a centuries-old idea: local currency projects based on labor.\n<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n How digitizing payroll set the scene for a cashless society<\/span>\n

When companies started embracing direct bank deposits for employees\u2019 wages 50 years ago, it laid the foundation for today’s digital cash. <\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n Khipu, the ancient Inka accounting system<\/span>\n

Long before Excel, accountants of the Inka Empire used knotted strings called khipu, or quipu, to record taxes and stock. \n<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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Digitizing payroll took more than just installing a new computer; it required a reshaped regulatory landscape.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\n Cuneiform tablets reveal secrets of Mesopotamian payroll<\/span>\n

Early payroll records were among humans\u2019 first steps toward a writing system, explains Ali H.O. Bnayan, an archaeologist and cuneiform expert from the Iraq Museum.<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n The Denominator, a device for counting money<\/span>\n

Mechanical tabulation changed the game for payroll clerks in the early 20th century.<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n Cashier check \u2018kebabs\u2019 sum up Naples\u2019 financial history<\/span>\n

This Italian port city was a business hub for centuries, and all its dealings were documented on slips of paper strung up like meat. <\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\n The long evolution of minimum wage<\/span>\n

Real-life experiments show that increasing minimum wages doesn\u2019t affect employment rates, but does help relieve poverty. <\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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Debit cards are an innovation we take for granted today, but when they debuted in the 1970s, they were a novel concept.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/a><\/div>\n\n

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\n 50 years of SWIFT\u00a0<\/span>\n

How the introduction of secure cross-border bank messaging changed international business forever. \n<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n \"\"\n <\/div>\n
\n How debit cards changed our lives<\/span>\n

After debuting in the 1970s, debit cards took hold in the 1990s and 2000s, changing how we spend our hard-earned money.<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\n How the rise of cash machines changed payday<\/span>\n

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.<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n Monetary integration and common currencies<\/span>\n

How and why independent states give up their own money in the pursuit of a joint, cross-regional currency. <\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n The first coins in Ancient Greece<\/span>\n

Trade and commerce existed long before coins, but the idea of money was a revelation and a revolution.\n<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\n The long road to ban child labor\u00a0<\/span>\n

Industrialization led to an increased focus on banning child labor, but the efforts continue in the modern day.\n<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n The rise and fall of the paper paycheck<\/span>\n

The story of the paycheck is one of unrealized potential. Learn how this payroll innovation went out of fashion as quickly as it came.\n<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n Labor actions in the ancient world<\/span>\n

Strikes, a symptom of broken trust between worker and employer, date back to Ancient Egypt and Rome.<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n

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\n The very first calculating machine<\/span>\n

Four centuries ago, during a time of great innovation, Wilhelm Schickard invented the first-ever calculating machine in Germany.\n<\/p> <\/div>\n <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Sign up<\/a> to keep up to date with ReThink Q.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Explore interesting stories from the history of payroll, money and accounting that show how we got where we are today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2995,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[7],"class_list":["post-3811","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHistory of payroll - ADP ReThink Q<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-payroll\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"History of payroll - ADP ReThink Q\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore interesting stories from the history of payroll, money and accounting that show how we got where we are today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-payroll\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ADP ReThink Q\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-31T18:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot-2023-11-03-at-16.03.42-1024x755.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"755\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-payroll\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-payroll\/\",\"name\":\"History of payroll - 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