The problem states that the amount of money an employee earns is proportional to the number of hours worked. Specifically, the employee works 40 hours and earns $1,100, and the question asks to determine the hourly wage.

To solve this:

1. The total earnings = hourly wage × number of hours worked.

   Let the hourly wage be $x$.

2. Therefore, we set up the equation: $40 \times x = 1100$

3. Solve for $x$ (the hourly wage): $x = \frac{1100}{40} = 27.50$

Thus, the employee earns $27.50 per hour, which is the first option.

Would you like more details or have any questions?

Here are five related questions:

1. How much would the employee earn if they worked 50 hours at the same rate?
2. What is the total pay for 30 hours of work at $27.50 per hour?
3. If the hourly rate was reduced to $25.00, how much would the employee earn for 40 hours?
4. What would the wage be if the employee earned $1,500 for 60 hours of work?
5. How many hours would the employee need to work to earn $2,000 at the rate of $27.50 per hour?

Tip: Always check your proportion setup when dealing with direct proportionality problems to ensure proper relationships between quantities.