HR Glossary

• Pay grades: A method used to group jobs together that have approximately the same relative internal worth and are paid at the same rate.
• Pay range: Associated with pay grades, the range sets the upper and lower compensation boundaries for jobs within that range.
• Payroll records: Documentation created and maintained by the employer, which contains information regarding hours worked, salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, vacation/sick pay, contributions to qualified health and pension plans, net pay and deductions for all employees on the employer’s payroll for the year.
• Pay structure: A structure of job grades and pay ranges established within an organization. May be expressed as job grades or job evaluation points.
• Peer appraisal: A performance appraisal strategy whereby an employee is reviewed by his or her peers who have sufficient opportunity to examine the individual’s job performance.
• Pension plan: An employer benefit plan funded through insurance, a trust, general assets or other separately maintained funds designed to provide employees with a monthly income benefit upon retirement.
• Perceived disability: A person who does not meet the definition of a disabled individual in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act but is regarded by his or her employer as having a mental or physical disability.
• Performance appraisal: A periodic review and evaluation of an individual's job performance.
• Performance-based pay: A variable pay strategy that pays employees based on their individual performance and contributions, rather than the value of the job they are performing.
• Performance counseling: The process of improving employee performance and productivity by providing the employee with feedback regarding areas where he or she is doing well and areas that may require improvement.
• Performance improvement plan: A plan implemented by a manager or supervisor that is designed to provide employees with constructive feedback, facilitate discussions between an employee and his or her supervisor regarding performance-related issues, and outline specific areas of performance requiring improvement.
• Performance management: The process of maintaining or improving employee job performance through the use of performance assessment tools, coaching and counseling as well as providing continuous feedback.
• Performance monitoring: The practice of monitoring employees while they perform their jobs through the use of surveillance cameras, telephone or computer monitoring.
• Performance standards: The tasks, functions or behavioral requirements established by the employer as goals to be accomplished by an employee.
• Perquisites: A form of incentives generally given to executive employees granting them certain privileges or special consideration, such as memberships in clubs, physical fitness programs, financial counseling, etc.
• Personal days: A benefit designed to provide employees with an allotment of paid days off in addition to holidays, sick days or vacation days, which they can use to attend to personal matters.
• Personality test: A test instrument usually involving a standardized series of questions that are used to evaluate an individual’s personality characteristics.
• Personal protective equipment: Clothing and other work accessories (i.e., safety glasses, hearing protection, etc.) designed to create a barrier against potential workplace hazards.
• Personnel records: All information pertaining to individual employees, which is collected and maintained by the employer and is essential to the employer for handling various employment-related matters.
• Phased retirement: A work schedule arrangement that allows employees to gradually reduce their full-time hours over a period of time.
• Physical ability test: A test instrument used to determine an individual’s ability to perform the functions or tasks of a job where physical strength or endurance is required.
• Physical examination: A medical examination performed by a company physician or an independent physician to ascertain whether or not an individual is able to perform the physical requirements of a particular job.
• Piece rate: A per-piece rate system that pays employees based on the number of pieces produced.
• Pink slip: A written or verbal notice given to employees who are being terminated or laid-off.
• Plan administrator: An individual or plan sponsor designated by the instrument under which the plan is operated to be responsible for the administration of pension and welfare benefit plans.
• Premium only plan (POP): Considered to be the most basic type of Section 125 plan, a POP is a benefit plan that is designed to allow employees to elect to make premium contributions on either a pre-tax or post-tax basis.
• Policy: A written statement that reflects the employer’s standards and objectives relating to various employee activities and employment-related matters.
• Position control: A workforce planning tool that imposes certain rules or restrictions on the creation, and filling of positions as a means to manage and control the costs associated with any given position within the organization.
• Positive discipline: A disciplinary strategy geared toward reducing and improving an individual’s unfavorable behavior or conduct by rewarding positive behavior rather than focusing on and punishing negative behavior.
• Positive reinforcement: The process of acknowledging specific behaviors with positive feedback, such as a smile, praise or reward.
• Post-accident testing: The process of testing an employee involved in a workplace accident for the presence of drugs or alcohol.
• Post- tax contributions: Contributions made to a benefit plan that are subject to applicable state or federal tax withholding requirements.
• Practitioner: An individual who practices a learned profession.
• Predictive validity: Used in the test validation process to measure the relationship between test scores and actual job performance.
• Pre-employment testing: The practice of issuing tests to potential employees on a pre-employment basis in order to determine an applicant’s suitability for a certain position. These tests may include, but are not limited to, drug and alcohol tests, medical examinations, s****s tests, physical agility tests, honesty/integrity tests or personality tests.
• Preexisting condition: Any condition for which a person is currently receiving treatment, has been advised to receive treatment or for which a prudent person would seek treatment.
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978: An amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, requiring pregnancy or related conditions to be treated in the same manner as any other temporary disability.
• Pre-tax contributions: Contributions made to a benefit plan that are exempt from all applicable state or federal tax withholding requirements.
• Premium pay: Additional compensation paid for work performed outside of regularly scheduled work hours.
• Prepaid group legal plan: A benefit plan that provides employees, their spouses or dependents with assistance in obtaining legal services, which have been prepaid in whole or in part by the employer.
• Prescription drug benefits: Typically a provision included in a group health plan designed to provide covered employees and their dependents with payment assistance for medically prescribed drugs.
• Prevailing wage: A rate of pay determined by the U.S. Department of Labor based upon the geographic area for a given class of labor and type of project.
• Prima facie case: Latin for “at first view” or “at first appearance,” a prima-facie case is a lawsuit that requires an employer to articulate a reason that sufficiently proves that any decision or action taken was made based on legitimate and nondiscriminatory factors.
• Privacy: Refers to information about an employee which he or she regards as personal or private (i.e., medical information, financial data, etc.) and the right of that individual to not have such information shared with others.
• Private letter ruling: A formal document issued by the Internal Revenue Service announcing tax decisions or changes.
• Probation: Used as a form of discipline, it is a specified period of time during which an individual’s performance or conduct is closely monitored.
• Probationary period: A specified period of time (typically 30-90 days) where a newly hired, promoted or transferred employee’s job performance is evaluated. Primarily used by supervisors to closely observe an employee’s work, help the employee adjust to the position and reject any employee whose performance does not meet required standards.
• Pro forma: The term pro forma comes from the Latin phrase meaning, "as a matter of form". The term is very broad and its meaning depends on the context in which it is being used. Basically it is a term used to describe the presentation of data, usually financial statements, where the data reflects information as if the state of the world were different from that which is in fact the case.
• Policy/procedures manual: A detailed written document designed to assist managers and supervisors in carrying out their day-to-day responsibilities by acquainting them with all of the organization's policies and the procedures required to implement those policies.
• Process reengineering: The process of improving business practices or methods by creating and implementing new processes or making changes to existing processes.
• Professional Employer Organization (PEO): An organization that enters into a join-employment relationship with an employer, by leasing employees to the employer, allowing the PEO to share and manage many employer-related responsibilities and liabilities. Employers outsource their human resource functions, such employee benefits, compensation and payroll administration, workers’ compensation and employment taxes.
• Profit sharing plan: A qualified retirement plan established and maintained by an employer which enables employees and their beneficiaries to participate in the profits of the employer's business.
• Progressive discipline: A form of discipline whereby increasingly harsher penalties are awarded each time an employee is disciplined for the same or a different performance infraction or policy or work-rule violation. Generally, the sequence is an oral warning to written warnings to suspension and finally termination.
• Promotion: Career advancement within an organization, which includes increased authority, level of responsibility, status and pay.
• Proprietary information: Information associated with a company's products, business or activities, including such items as financial data; trade secrets; product research and development; product designs; marketing plans or techniques; computer programs; processes; and know-how that has been clearly identified and communicated by the company as proprietary, a trade secret or confidential.
• Protected characteristics: Legal terminology referring to areas protected by federal or state statutes.
• Protected class: A legal term describing certain groups, such as women, older and disabled individuals, Vietnam-era veterans and minorities.
• Psychological test: A written, visual or verbal assessment administered to determine cognitive and emotional s****s.
• Qualified domestic relations order (QDRO): An order, decree, judgment or administrative notice (including a settlement agreement) that establishes the rights of another person (the “alternate payee”) to benefits; issued by a domestic relations court or other court of competent jurisdiction or through an administrative process established under state law.
• Qualified medical child support order (QMCSO): An order, decree, judgment or administrative notice (including a settlement agreement) requiring health coverage for a child; issued by a domestic relations court or other court of competent jurisdiction or through an administrative process established under state law.
• Qualified plan: A defined benefit or defined contribution pension plan covered by ERISA and IRS regulations qualifying for certain tax advantages for both the employer and the participant.
• Qualified special disabled veteran: A special disabled veteran who satisfies the requisite s****, experience, education and other job-related requirements of the employment position such veteran holds or desires and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of such position.
• Quality assurance: Activities or programs whose purpose is to demonstrate and ensure that products and services meet specifications and are consistently of high quality.
• Quality audit: The process of examining the elements of a quality management system in order to evaluate how well they comply with quality system specifications.
• Quality circle: A carefully selected group of employees who voluntarily meet on a regular basis to identify problems and make recommendation by using various techniques for analyzing and solving work-related problems.

• Quality control: Activities or programs whose purpose is to ensure that all quality specifications for products or services are being met and are of consistently high quality.
• Quality improvement: Any system or process designed to enhance an organization's ability to meet quality requirements.
• Quid pro quo: Legal terminology essentially meaning “what for what” or “something for something.” It is the concept of getting something of value in exchange for giving something of value.
• Quid pro quo harassment: Quid pro harassment involves expressed or implied demands for ***ual favors in exchange for some benefit (a promotion, pay increase, etc.) or to avoid some detriment (termination, demotion, etc.) in the workplace. By definition, it can only be perpetrated by someone in a position of power or authority over another (i.e., manager or supervisor over a subordinate).
• Quit: A voluntary resignation from employment that is initiated by the employee.
• Quota system: In affirmative action systems, it is a means of attempting to achieve workplace balance by hiring and/or promoting specified numbers or ratios of minorities or women in positions from which they have been excluded.
• Race-norming: The practice of adjusting employment test scores to compensate for racial differences.
• Random testing: Drug and alcohol tests administered by an employer that selects employees to be tested on a random basis.
• Rank order: A rating method where the performance of a group, process or product is arranged in a particular order, such as highest to lowest.
• Reasonable accommodation: Modifying or adjusting a job process or a work environment to better enable a qualified individual with a disability to be considered for or perform the essential functions of a job.
• Reasonable person standard: A standard used in ***ual harassment suits, referring to conduct or behavior so offensive in nature that any reasonable person, regardless of ***, would agree the conduct or behavior should be illegal.
• Reasonable suspicion testing: A drug or alcohol test administered to an employee due to a performance or policy infraction or poor or erratic behavior.
• Reassignment: Transferring individuals to alternative positions where their talents or s****s may be best utilized to their own or the organization’s benefit or where they are better able to perform the job in accordance with required standards.
• Reciprocity: A relationship between states or other taxing jurisdictions whereby privileges granted by one are returned by the other under a reciprocal agreement.
• Reciprocal review: An appraisal method where the subordinate and the manager are evaluated by each other based on agreed-upon performance criteria.
• Recognition: An acknowledgement of an employee’s exceptional performance or achievements expressed in the form of praise, commendation or gratitude.
• Recordable illness/injury: All occupational injuries and illnesses that require more than basic first aid treatment, or deaths that occurred in the workplace.
• Recruitment: The practice of soliciting and actively seeking applicants to fill recently vacated or newly created positions using a variety of methods (i.e., internal job postings, advertising in newspapers or electronic job boards/sites, utilizing search firms, or listing position with trade and professional associations, etc).
• Red circle rate: A pay rate that is above the maximum range assigned to the job grade. Employees are usually not eligible for additional pay increases until the range maximums exceed the individual pay rate.
• Redeployment: The reassignment of employees to other departments or functions as an alternative to laying them off.
• Reduction in force: An involuntary separation of an employee or groups of employees due to economic pressures, lack of work, organizational changes or other reasons of business necessity that require a reduction in staff.
• Reengineering: The redesigning of business and work processes, policies or organizational structure.
• Reference checking: The process of verifying information supplied by applicants on an application or resume.
• Regression analysis: A statistical measure used to discover relationships between variables such as performance ratings and promotions.
• Regular full/part-time employee: An individual who has been hired by an employer to work a predetermined amount of hours per week in a position/appointment of indefinite duration.
• Rehabilitation Act of 1998: A federal statute requiring federal agencies to ensure that electronic and information technology systems are accessible to individuals with disabilities when their jobs require the use of electronic or information technology systems.
• Reinforcement: The practice of providing positive feedback to an individual or groups of individuals after completion of a particular project or achievement of a particular goal.:
• Release agreement: A type of legal written document executed by an employer and signed by an employee whereby the employee relinquishes certain rights in exchange for some form of consideration, such as a benefit the employee would not have otherwise received had he or she not been discharged.
• Reliability: A measure of the ability of a test or other appraisal instrument to evaluate what is being measured on a consistent basis.
• Religious accommodation: An accommodation made for an employee, such as time off from work, so that he or she may observe a religious holiday or attend a religious ceremony or their day of Sabbath such as Saturday or Sunday.
• Relocation assistance: A type of benefit offered to employees who accept work assignments in new locations. Typically takes the form of assistance with moving costs, travel expenses, temporary lodging and home-buying/selling.
• Remedial counseling: A type of employee counseling used to correct performance or behavior-related issues.
• Remedial training: Describes a method of teaching intended to help people who have basic s****s deficiencies, such reading or writing.
• Remediation: A strategy designed to conquer a deficiency in an employee’s behavior, performance or s****s.
• Remote employees: Employees who work off company premises and are removed from their supervisors or mangers.
• Remote managers: A manager who supervises employees who perform their work at a site other then the employer’s premises.
• Repatriate: The process of returning to the United States after being placed on a long-term international assignment.
• Reprimand: An oral or written reproach given to an employee as part of disciplinary action.
• Request for proposal (RFP): A document an organization sends to a vendor inviting the vendor to submit a bid for a product or service.
• Resident alien: A resident alien is a lawful permanent resident of the United States at any time if he or she has been given the privilege, according to the immigration laws, of residing permanently as an immigrant. This status usually exists if the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued a green card.
• Resolution: The disposition of a disagreement or grievance through alternative dispute resolution methods.
• Restrictive covenant: A contract clause requiring executives or other highly s****ed employees to refrain from seeking and obtaining employment with competitor organizations in a specific geographical region and for a specified period of time.
• Restructuring: Changing an organizational structure in order to make it more efficient and cost effective.
• Resume: A written document outlining an individual’s work experience, s****s, educational background, accomplishments and other related information supporting his or her career goal.
• Retaliatory discharge: A form of discriminatory discharge that occurs when an employer dismisses an employee as retaliation against the employee for a specific action.
• Retention bonus: An incentive payment used to entice employees from leaving the organization. Typically employees are asked to sign an agreement stating they will remain employed for a specific duration or until the completion of a particular task or project in order to be eligible for the bonus.
• Retiree s**** bank: A pool of retired former employees who are rehired on a temporary or contractual basis.
• Retirement plan: A written qualified or nonqualified benefit plan, funded by employer and employee contributions, that provides retirement income benefits for employees.
• Retraining: Training that is provided for a certain job to enable an employee to acquire the necessary s****s to work with new processes, procedures or equipment.
• Return on investment (ROI): A ratio of the benefit or profit derived from a specific investment, compared with the cost of the investment itself.
• Reverse discrimination: Employment policies or practices that result in discriminatory treatment against applicants or employees who are not minorities or members of a disadvantaged group.
• Reward system: A formal or informal program used to recognize individual employee achievements, such as accomplishment of goals or projects or submission of creative ideas.
• Rightsizing: An approach to reducing staff, whereby jobs are prioritized in order to identify and eliminate unnecessary work. This method uses a selection criteria based on individual jobs, rather than people, in order to avoid possibly laying off the wrong employees.
• Right-to-know: An OSHA standard providing workers with protection from hazardous substances in the workplace by requiring employers to keep employees informed of any hazardous substances that they may be working with, as well as the hazards and symptoms associated with the substance.
• Right-to-sue letter: A letter issued by the EEOC, once a charge has been recorded and processed, informing individuals who filed the charge that they have the right to further pursue their charges in a federal or state court.
• Right-to-work: A state law preventing labor-management agreements requiring an individual to join a union as a condition of employment.
• Risk management: The use of insurance and other strategies in an effort to minimize an organization’s exposure to liability in the event a loss or injury occurs.
• Role playing: A training method in which each participant purposely acts out or assumes a particular character or role.
• Rolling year: Under FMLA regulations, a rolling year is defined as a 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee first uses leave.
• Rotational training: A training method where employees are rotated among a variety of different jobs, departments or company functions for a certain period of time.
• Rural sourcing: An outsourcing method that is based on transferring jobs away from higher cost urban areas to lower cost rural areas.
• Sabbatical: A voluntary arrangement whereby an employer allows an employee paid or unpaid leave for a specified duration of time in order for the employee to pursue a course of advanced training, teach or perform a public service. In education, it is a period of time college or university teachers are allowed to stop their usual work in order to study or travel, usually while continuing to be paid (typically every seven years).
• Safe Harbor Regulations: Guidelines regulated by the Department of Labor, which, when fully complied with, may reduce or limit the liability of a plan fiduciary.
• Safety training: A teaching tool used to help employees become more safety-conscious in all aspects of safety.
• Salary compression: Pay differentials too small to be considered equitable. The term may apply to differences between (1) the pay of supervisors and subordinates; (2) the pay of experienced and newly hired incumbents of the same job; and (3) pay-range midpoints in successive job grades.
• Salary grade: A compensation level expressed as a salary range, which has been established for each position within the organization.
• Salary range: A range of pay rates, from minimum to maximum, set for a specific pay grade.
• Salary structure: A structure of job grades and pay ranges established within an organization. May be expressed as job grades or job evaluation points.
• Sales compensation: A compensation system designed for individuals employed in managerial sales or sales representative positions. Individuals are paid on a commission or percentage of sale basis, in accordance with achieving specified sales goals.
• Salting: Refers to paid union organizers who apply for jobs with an employer for the purpose of organizing the employer’s workforce.
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted to increase accountability of corporations to their shareholders in the wake of recent accounting scandals. There are many financial provisions that are not germane to HR basics. Two provisions are of special interest to HR professionals--the whistleblower protection provision and the 401(k) blackout notice provision.
• Scalability: The degree to which a computer application or component can be expanded in size, volume or number of users served and continue to function properly.
• Scanlon Plan: A gain sharing program in which employees share in specific cost savings that are due to employee effort. The Scanlon Plan involves much employee participation, predating quality circles with most of the same techniques.
• Schedule interview: An interviewing format in which each candidate is asked for the same exact information.
• School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994: A national effort to develop a school-to-work system to assist students in making the transition from school to the adult workforce. The goal of the Act is to create well-marked paths students can follow to move from school to good first jobs or from school to continued education and training. The Act focuses on broadening educational and career opportunities for all students by encouraging state and local partnerships between businesses and educational institutions.
• S corporation: Business enterprise allowed by the IRS for most companies with 75 or fewer shareholders, enabling the company to enjoy the benefits of incorporation while being taxed as if it were a partnership.
• Screening: Usually the first step taken during the interviewing process, involving reviewing prospective candidate applications/resumes, verifying information supplied by the candidate, conducting interviews and examining test results.
• Search firm: An organization or individual consultants working on a retainer or fee basis who provide the service of searching and screening potential candidates for prospective employers. Typically search firms are retained for higher-level professional or managerial positions.
• Self-directed teams: A multi-s****ed, cross-functional group of employees possessing full empowerment who share responsibilities for producing a particular service or product.
• Self-employed: An individual who has earned income for the current or preceding year from self-employment, within the meaning of I.R.C. §401(c) (2), or an individual who would have had such income, except for the fact that the relevant business did not incur a profit for the year.
• Self-funding/self-insurance: A benefit plan whereby the employer assumes all the risk, paying out for claims but saving the cost of any associated premiums.

• Seminar: A facilitator-directed meeting or conference consisting of groups of individuals gathered to study a specific subject matter.
• Semi-s****ed Worker: Semi-s****ed workers have to be able to read, write and communicate but are usually not required to have educational or apprenticeship credentials to qualify for jobs. Training time is short, task specific and generally doesn’t require much in terms of reasoning s****s.
• Seniority: Status determined by the length of time an employee has worked for a specific employer, department or position within the organization.
• Sensitivity training: A form of individual counseling geared toward increasing self-awareness and sensitivity to others. It aims to assist key employees in developing their leadership s****s surrounding issues of diversity and harassment prevention.
• Serious health condition: An illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility; or continuing treatment by a health care provider.
• Service award: Part of a formal or informal recognition program that rewards employees based on length of service.
• Severance pay: A form of short-term salary continuation awarded to employees who are being terminated. Severance payments often equal one week's pay for each year of service.
• *** Discrimination Act of 1975: The *** Discrimination Act of 1975 prohibits discrimination against individuals based on *** or marital status in areas of employment, education, the provision of goods, facilities and services or in the management of premises.
• *** discrimination: Discriminatory conduct or actions based on *** or pregnancy, as it relates to conditions of employment, benefits, pay and opportunities for advancement.
• ***ual harassment: Unwelcome ***ual advances, requests for ***ual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a ***ual nature constitute ***ual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.
• ***ual orientation: The focus of a person's amorous or erotic desires and feelings toward members of the opposite or the same gender.
• Shareholder: An individual or corporation that owns shares in the corporation.
• Shift differential: Additional compensation, usually expressed as cents per hour, paid as an incentive for employees to accept working a less-then-desirable work shift (i.e., 2nd or 3rd shift).
• Short-term disability: A benefit designed to provide temporary income replacement for worker absent due to illness or injury, but who is expected to return to work within a specified timeframe.
• Sick leave: Paid time off granted to employees who are out of work due to an illness or injury.
• Simulation: An instructional method used to teach problem solving, procedures or operations by placing learners in situations akin to reality.
• Situational leadership: A management theory stating that different situations call for different leadership styles and that essentially there is no one best way to lead.
• Six Sigma: Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven methodology used to eliminate defects and improve processes and cut costs from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service.
• S****: Ability to perform a mental or motor activity that contributes to the effective performance of a job task.
• S****-based pay: A salary differentiation system that bases compensation on an individual’s education, experience, knowledge, s****s or specialized training.
• S**** gap: A deficiency in basic writing, reading, mathematical or oral communication s****s.
• S****s inventory: A list of s****s or competencies possessed by an individual.
• S****s training: Training provided to employees to help them ascertain the s****s and knowledge necessary to perform their current jobs; also used as a retraining method when new systems or processes are introduced.
• Slander: False defamation expressed as spoken words, signs or gestures, which cause damage to the character or reputation of the individual being defamed.
• Slow learner: A term used to describe individuals with mental disabilities and an IQ of between 75 and 90.
• Social Security: A federal program under the Social Security Act which provides for retirement, disability and other related benefits for workers and their eligible dependents.
• Social Security card: A card issued by the Social Security Administration displaying an individual’s full legal name and social security number assigned to the individual.
• Soft s****s: S****s required to perform a certain job where the job is defined in terms of expected outcomes, but the process to achieve the outcome varies.
• Sole proprietorship: A business enterprise in which an individual is fully and personally liable for all the obligations of the business, is entitled to all profits and exercises complete managerial control.
• Span of control: A management principle expressing that a limit exists to the number of people an individual can effectively and successfully manage.
• Special disabled veteran: A person entitled to disability compensation under laws administered by the Veterans Administration for disability rated at 30 percent or more; or rated at 10-20 percent in the case of a veteran who has been determined to have a serious employment handicap under 38 USC 3106; or a person whose discharge or release from active duty was for a service-connected disability incurred.
• Specialization: A principle stating that, as an organization grows, work within the organization needs to be divided in order to keep jobs from becoming so specialized or complex that they require a greater range of s****s that essentially can not be performed by one individual.
• Spot rewards: Cash and noncash awards given to employees for ideas submitted or accomplishments benefiting the organization.
• Staffing: The function within an organization responsible for recruitment, screening and selection of employees. Oftentimes, this function may also be responsible for other areas of employment, such as orientation, retention, training and termination of staff.
• Staffing metrics: Measures used to determine costs associated with recruitment and hiring, time to fill/start for open positions and recruiter workload/activity.
• Staff leasing: The practice of an employer directly hiring an employee on a temporary basis for an indefinite period of time instead of utilizing the services of a temporary staffing agency.
• Stakeholder: Someone with a vested interest in the successful completion or outcome of a project.
• Standard deviation: A statistic used as a measure of the dispersion or variation in a distribution, equal to the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the deviations from the arithmetic mean.
• Standard error: Statistical estimate of possible size error present in a test score or other group measure.
• Standardization: Design and implementation of consistent specifications for procedures, practices, materials, machinery or other equipment or other types of products and services.
• Standardized interview: A form of interviewing that uses the same subject matter and identically sequenced questions, then evaluating responses to determine the differences between candidates.
• Standardized testing: A written test, the scores of which are interpreted by referencing the scores of a norm group that has taken the test and which is considered to be representative of the population that takes the test.
• Standard score: A score derived from the mean performance of a group on a test, as well as the comparative performance of all the individuals who took the test.
• Standard operating procedures: A prescribed written procedure outlining how recurring tasks, duties and functions are to be performed organization-wide.
• Statute of limitation: Laws prescribing deadlines for filing lawsuits within a certain time after events, which are the source of the claim, occur.
• Statutory benefits: Benefits that are mandated by federal or state laws, such as Social Security, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.
• Stock option plan: An organizational program that it that grants employees the option of purchasing a specific number of stock in the company at a future date.
• Stop loss insurance: A contract established between a self-insured employer and an insurance provider providing for carrier coverage if a claim incurred exceeds a specified dollar amount over a predetermined period of time.
• Strategic HR: The process of taking a long-term approach to Human Resource Management through the development and implementation of HR programs that address and solve business problems and directly contribute to major long-term business objectives.
• Strategic planning: The process of identifying an organization's long-term goals and objectives and then determining the best approach for achieving those goals and objectives.
• Strategic staffing: The practice of hiring smaller core numbers of permanent employees and utilizing temporary employees to fill more highly specialized positions within the organization.
• Stress interview: An interviewing style whereby the interviewer subjects a candidate to pressure or stress to ascertain how the candidate reacts under such conditions.
• Stress management: The design and implementation of workplace programs and services intended to combat employee stress and improve overall employee morale, effectiveness and productivity.
• Strike: Occurs when employees deliberately refuse to perform their jobs and/or form picket lines outside the employer’s premises to prevent or discourage others from working in their place or conducting business with the employer.
• Structured interview: A structured interview asks the same questions of each candidate, so that valid comparisons of the quality of responses can be obtained. The questions generally take four job-related forms: situational, observational, personal and behavioral.
• Subject matter expert: An individual who has expertise in a business process or specific area.
• Subordinate appraisal: An appraisal system whereby managerial employees are evaluated by their subordinates.
• Subsidiary: A company having more than half of its stock owned by another company or is completely owned by another company.
• Substance abuse: Defined as a destructive pattern of substance (i.e., narcotics or alcohol) use leading to clinically significant social, occupational or medical impairment.
• Succession planning: The process of identifying long-range needs and cultivating a supply of internal talent to meet those future needs. Used to anticipate the future needs of the organization and assist in finding, assessing and developing the human capital necessary to the strategy of the organization.
• Suggestion system: A system allowing employees to voice complaints, make recommendations or submit ideas regarding company policies, procedures, working conditions, benefits, etc.
• Summary annual report: A summarized report containing information on the financial status of an employee benefit plan.
• Summary material modifications: A summary of modifications or changes made to an employee benefit plan that is not included in the summary plan description.
• Summary plan description: A written statement that contains information regarding participation, coverage and employee rights for any ERISA-covered benefit plan.
• Supervisory/management development: Training provided to employees with the potential for promotion into supervisory or managerial-level positions within the organization or as a remedy for performance-related issues.
• Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (SUB): Typically found in collective bargaining agreements. SUB pay benefits are taxable payments form a fund which can be combined with state unemployment insurance benefits during periods of temporary layoff to provide a higher level of unemployment benefits during the term of layoff.
• Supranational: Involving more than one country or having authority which transcends one country, i.e., the European Union is a supranational organization.
• Survey: A data collection method used to assist organizations with problem identification, measuring employee morale or expectations and determining areas of concern.
• Suspension: A form of disciplinary action resulting in an employee being sent home without pay for a specified period of time (the Fair Labor Standards Act contains stricter rules relating to suspending salaried exempt employees without pay).
• SWOT Analysis: A SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning tool used to collect and evaluate information on an organization’s current Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a specific project or business venture.
• Systemic discrimination: A pattern of discrimination that on the surface appears neutral but in reality is systemic or through its application of policies and practices.
• 360-degree feedback: An appraisal process whereby an individual is rated on his or her performance by people who know something about the individual’s work. This can include direct reports, peers, managers, customers or clients; in fact, anybody who is credible to the individual and is familiar with his or her work can be included in the feedback process. The individual usually completes a self-assessment exercise on his or her performance, which is also used in the process.
• Talent Management: Broadly defined as the implementation of an integrated strategies or systems designed to increase workplace productivity by developing improved processes for attracting, developing, retaining and utilizing people with the required s****s and aptitude to meet current and future business needs.
• Tangible rewards: Rewards that can be physically touched or held (i.e., a gift certificate, gifts in the form of merchandise or a savings bond.)
• Task analysis: Involves defining standards and conditions of a particular task and identifying the distinguishing factors between tasks.
• Task competencies: The specific activities and tasks that make up a particular job.
• Team building: A training program designed to assist a group of people to work together as a team while they are learning.
• Teamwork: Described as the practice of individuals working together in order to bring a variety of talents and experiences to achieve a common goal.
• Telecommuting: Working from a remote location (often one’s home workstation) using computers, telephones, facsimile machines and other remote capabilities, rather than commuting via automobile or other mode of transportation to and from an employer's work site to perform equivalent work.
• Teleconferencing: A conference established between two or more people or groups of people who are in different locations; made possible by the use of such telecommunications equipment as closed-circuit television
• Temporary employee: An individual who works on either short- or long-term assignments with an employer without being treated as a permanent employee and lacking the benefits of permanent employees. Normally utilized by employers to meet seasonal or other demands that they do not have the internal resources to meet.
• Temporary restraining order: Restraining and/or protective orders are examples of orders issued by a court restraining the conduct of an individual and protecting a victim from the activities of an abusive person.
• Temp-to-perm: The process of hiring employees on a temporary basis, usually through a temporary staffing agency, with the understanding that if the individual’s performance meets or exceeds expectations, he or she will be offered a permanent position within the organization.
• Termination: Separation from employment due to a voluntary resignation, layoff, retirement or dismissal.
• Termination-at-will: A rule allowing an employee or employer to terminate the employment relationship at any time for any or no reason at all.
• Termination Date: Normally the last date actually worked by an employee; however, for employers with accrued leave programs, paid leave programs, benefit continuation programs or severance pay programs which go beyond the last day worked, the termination date would be the date at which accruals, paid leave, benefit continuation or severance continuation ceases.
• Test security: An individual’s right to privacy, as it relates to information regarding test results, providing for informed consent of how test results are used.
• Theory X: States that some people have an inherent dislike for work and will avoid it whenever possible. These people need to be controlled and coerced by their managers to achieve production.
• Theory Y: Assumes that people have a psychological need to work and want achievement and responsibility. A manager's role with these people is to help them achieve their potential.
• Think tank: A group organized for the purpose of intensive research and problem solving, especially in the areas of technology, social or political strategy, or demographics.
• Third-party ***ual harassment: Harassment of an employee by someone other than another employee, such as a client, customer, vendor or service provider.
• Time management: The discipline of utilizing time efficiently and well in order to achieve professional, personal or organizational objectives.

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Title VII is a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination in virtually every employment circumstance on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy or national origin. In general, Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The purpose of Title VII's protections is to "level the playing field" by forcing employers to consider only objective, job-related criteria in making employment decisions. Title VII must be considered when reviewing applications or resumes, when interviewing candidates, when testing job applicants and when considering employees for promotions, transfers or any other employment-related benefit or condition.
• Total compensation: The complete pay package awarded employees on an annual basis, including all forms of money, benefits, services and in-kind payments.
• Total quality management: A structured system that satisfies internal and external customers and suppliers by integrating the business environment, continuous improvement and breakthroughs with development, improvement and maintenance cycles.
• Total remuneration: The amount of monetary and non-monetary value to an employee of all the elements in the employment package, as well as any other intrinsic or extrinsic rewards of value to the employee.
• Trade secret: A trade secret consists of any formula, pattern, device or compilation of information used in one's business, which gives the business an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it.
• Trailing spouse: A term used to describe the spouse of an employee who has been transferred or relocated.
• Training aids: Any form of audio or visual materials used for training purposes.
• Training and development: A process dealing primarily with transferring or obtaining knowledge, attitudes and s****s needed to carry out a specific activity or task.
• Training needs analysis: A method used to determine what people need to learn and which training programs may be beneficial. The result of the analysis is a training needs report identifying training needs and the interventions needed to reduce key performance gaps.
• Transfer: Moving an employee from one position, shift or department to another within the organization.
• Transformational leadership: A systematic form of leadership focusing on change and innovation. According to Bernard Bass, it is a form of leadership occurring when leaders “broaden and elevate the interests of their employees, when they generate awareness and acceptance of the purposes and the mission of the group and when they stir their employees to look beyond their own self-interest for the good of the group”
• Transitional employment: Provides alternative work arrangements, such as temporary light or modified duty, for employees who have been absent from the workplace as a result of illness or injury and who have been released by their medical provider to return to work.
• Trans***ual: An individual who assumes the identity and acts the part of the gender opposite to his or her own biological *** due to a strong desire to be another ***.
• Transgender: A term applied to an individual whose physical appearance and behaviors do not conform to traditional gender roles.
• Trend analysis: The process of forecasting an organization’s staffing needs by analyzing past employment patterns in order to identify trends that may be expected to continue.
• Tuition assistance: A program designed to provide financial assistance to employees taking educational courses at an accredited college or university.
• Turkey trot: A term used to describe the practice of transferring problem or performance-challenged employees from one position or department to another with the expectation that the employee may improve under a new supervisor or in a different work atmosphere.
• Turnover: Describes changes in the work force resulting from voluntary or involuntary resignations.
• Turnover costs: Costs associated with a separation of employment, including items such as unemployment compensation, COBRA benefits continuation costs, the cost of conducting exit interviews, as well as costs associated with replacing an employee, such as advertising, pre-employment testing, time and materials for new hire orientation, training and lost productivity.
• Turnover rate: The number of separations during a month, including both voluntary and involuntary terminations (excluding layoffs). The turnover rate is calculated by taking the number of separations during a month divided by the average number of employees on the payroll multiplied by 100.
• Underutilization: As part of the affirmative action process, this report is used to determine whether certain members of protected groups are being inadequately represented within the workforce. The report uses information based on the geographic area and positions within the organization.
• Unemployment insurance (UI): A statutory benefit. Unemployment insurance is designed to provide workers who have been laid off a weekly income during short periods of unemployment. The system is run and funded by state and federal taxes paid by employers.
• Unemployment rate: The number of individuals unemployed as a percentage of the labor force.
• Unfair labor practice (ULP): An unfair labor practice (ULP) is a violation of a right protected by the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. The ULP procedures provided by the Statute are part of the basic mechanisms by which the parties are protected in the exercise of their rights.
• Unfairly discriminatory: An action or policy resulting in members of protected groups becoming disadvantaged in relation to the employer’s selection, hiring, promotion, pay and training opportunities, when said person(s) are as equally qualified and have the same potential to be successful.
• Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures of 1978: The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures address the use of interviewing, testing, training and other employee selection tools and their impact on discrimination based on race, color, religion, *** or national origin. Specifically addressed is adverse impact, measured by the 80% test, which states that if a selection practice yields less than 80% of a protected group, as compared with the most frequently selected group, there may be evidence of discrimination. The guidelines also require employers to maintain records, for an unspecified period of time, on their selection procedures and any adverse impact noted, as well as records of the employer's workforce broken down by race and ethnic groups.
• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994: The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA, or the Act), signed into law on October 13, 1994, clarifies and strengthens the Veterans’ Reemployment Rights (VRR) Statute. USERRA is intended to minimize the disadvantages to an individual that can occur when that person needs to be absent from his or her civilian employment in order to serve in the uniformed services. USERRA makes major improvements in protecting service member rights and benefits by clarifying the law and improving enforcement mechanisms. USERRA expands the cumulative length of time that an individual may be absent from work for uniformed services duty and retain reemployment rights.
• Union: A formal organization certified by the National Labor Relations Board and authorized to act on behalf of employees regarding wages, benefits, working conditions, conditions of employment and job security.
• Union Shop: A form of union security that requires employees to join the union, within a certain time after they are hired or after a compulsory-unionism contract is executed, and to maintain their membership as a condition of employment.
• Unretirement: The practice of hiring retired former employees whose s****s or qualifications are in need.
• Unsafe acts: Any action, such as horseplay, fighting, failing to abide by a safety rule, etc., that results in accident or injury to another.
• Unsafe conditions: Hazards, such as faulty equipment or tools, improper safety procedures, failure to improperly guard equipment, etc., that result or have the potential to result in an accident or injury to another.
• Uns****ed worker: Someone who is not required to use reasoning in their work: Examples: packager, assembler, laborer, hand, apprentice
• Unwelcome behavior/conduct: Conduct or behavior by peers, subordinates or supervisors that is objectionable or unacceptable to an individual.
• Upward mobility: The process of preparing minorities for promotion into higher-level jobs, such as managerial positions.
• Utilization management: Review and analysis of health care programs to determine cost control methods. Involves reviewing claims for potential utilization problems.
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): On March 1, 2003, service and benefit functions of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) transitioned into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The USCIS is responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication functions and establishing immigration services policies and priorities.
• Vacation buy-back plan: A program that allows an employee to sell back to the employer any unused vacation time balances.
• Vacation buying/selling/trading: A program that allows employees to buy additional vacation time from another employee or sell additional time they may have available to another employee. Some programs also allow for trading of future vacation time.
• Vacation carryover: A policy allowing employees to transfer a portion of their current year vacation balances for use in the next year. The amount of time that can be carried over is based on the employer’s policy.
• Validity: The general concept of validity is traditionally defined as "the degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports, to be measuring." Validity is normally subdivided into three categories: content, criterion-related and construct validity. Validity is an essential characteristic for all tests and test ratings.
• Value-added work: Work that increases the value of a service or product to the employer’s customers.
• Value statement: A document outlining and representing the core priorities in the organization’s culture.
• Variance forecasting: A measure that utilizes a demand and availability forecast to determine whether an organization has the ability to meet future manpower needs.
• Vertical disintegration: Used to describe organizations that over time shed layer after layer of full-time permanent employees and replace them with temporary workers until their workforce primarily consists of temporary employees.
• Vertical management: A traditional organizational structure consisting of primary functions (i.e., engineering, manufacturing, finance, etc.), with each function having its own manager.
• Vertical organization: An organizational structure consisting of many layers of management or other positions of authority.
• Vesting: An employee’s right to receive present or future pension benefits, even if the employee does not remain in the service of the employer.
• Vestibule training: A form of training conducted outside of the workplace to acclimate newly hired employees with procedures and equipment or tools to be used in their jobs.
• Veterans Benefit Improvement Act of 2004: An act signed into law by President Bush on December 10, 2004 that amended portions of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), imparting certain reemployment and benefit protections to individuals who are and employees engaged in military service. The act requires that employers extend the period for continuation of health care coverage and requires employers to provide covered employees with appropriate notice of their rights, benefits and responsibilities under USERRA.
• Vietnam Era Veteran: Defined as an individual who served on active duty for more than 180 days, any part of which occurred during the period between August 5, 1964, and May 7, 1975, and who received other than a dishonorable discharge, as defined in the regulations implementing the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974.
• Virtual HR: The use of technology to provide HR programs via an employee self-service platform. Typically includes use of such items as voice response systems, employee kiosks, etc.
• Virtual mentoring: A form of mentoring whereby the mentor and mentored communicate from a distance, utilizing either e-mail or other forms of electronic conferencing.
• Virtual office/workplace: The work site of employees such as sales reps or other types of employees who work off company premises and communicate with their respective workplaces via telephone or computer.
• Vision statement: A vision statement is a description of what an organization wants to become or hopes to accomplish in the future (typically in the next 10 years).
• Voluntary leave/layoff: Leave without pay that is taken on a voluntary basis by employees for specified duration. Often used as an alternative to layoff.
• Voluntary reduction in hours: Allows employees to voluntarily reduce their working hours as well as their pay for a specified duration. Also used as an alternative to layoff.
• Volunteerism: Organizational support, often in the form of paid leave or sponsorship, for employees pursuing volunteer opportunities or performing community services.
• V-time: An alternative work schedule that allows employees to voluntarily agree to reduce their work time and pay.
• Wage and salary administration: Procedures used for planning and administering organization-wide compensation programs for all levels of employees.
• Wage and salary survey: A benchmark report consisting of market pay data for a variety of jobs conducted either on a local or nationwide basis. Used to evaluate an organization’s own current pay structures and as a future compensation planning tool.
• Wage curve: Depicts pay rates currently being paid for each job within a pay grade in relation with the rankings awarded to each job during the job evaluation process.
• Wage gap: The difference in pay between female employees and male employees who are performing the same or comparable jobs.
• Wage garnishment: Usually in the form of a court order, a garnishment requires withholding a portion of an employee’s earnings for repayment of a debt.
• Wage differential: Differences in wage rates for similar jobs occurring either due to the location of company, hours of work, working conditions, type of product manufactured or other circumstances.
• Wage structure: Depicts the range of pay rates to be paid for each grade for various positions within the organization.
• Waiver: A document signed by either an employee or prospective employee in which he or she renounces certain specified rights or considerations.
• Weingarten Rule: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a decision by the Labor Board that employees have a right, protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, to insist upon union representation during an investigatory interview by the employer, provided the employee "reasonably believes" the interview "might result in disciplinary action." This right arises from Section 7's "guarantee of the right of employees to act in concert for mutual aid and protection." The right applies to unionized employees and is limited to situations where the employee specifically requests representation. The employer is not legally required to advise the employee of this right, and it applies only to investigatory meetings.
• Welfare plan: A plan designed to provide employees with coverage for medical or hospital care and surgical procedures. May also include other benefits, such as vacation or scholarship programs.
• Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit: The Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit is a federal income tax credit that encourages employers to hire long-term family assistance recipients, who begin to work any time after December 31, 1997, and before January, 2004. Established by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, the tax credit can reduce employers' federal tax liability per new hire.
• Well child care: Health care benefits that provide payment for routine office visits and physical examinations, immunizations and laboratory tests for dependent children.
• Wellness program: Programs, such as on-site or subsidized fitness centers, health screenings, smoking cessation, weight reduction/management, health awareness and education, that target keeping employees healthy, thereby lowering employer’s costs associated with absenteeism, lost productivity and increased health insurance claims.
• Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989: Whistleblower protection is the federal law that provides protection to employees against retaliation for reporting illegal acts of employers. An employer may not rightfully retaliate in any way, such as discharging, demoting, suspending or harassing the whistle blower. Employer retaliation of any kind may result in the whistle blower filing a charge with a government agency and/or filing a law suit against the employer.
• White collar employees: Employees who are paid on a salaried basis and whose jobs do not require the performance of work of a manual nature. Such individuals are normally employed in the capacity of managers, supervisors, salespeople, clerical or technical workers and meet the criteria of the FLSA white collar exemption test.
• Willful misconduct: Willful misconduct is defined as any action, taken by an employee consciously and willfully, that is deliberately malicious or violates a company policy. Willful misconduct can include such things as: willful or deliberate behavior inconsistent with the continuation of employment; conduct causing imminent and serious risk to a person’s health, safety, reputation or the viability or profitability of the employer’s business; theft, assault or fraud; being under the influence of drugs or alcohol at work; or refusing to carry out a lawful and reasonable instruction consistent with an employment policy.
• Women-owned business enterprise: A woman-owned business is a for-profit enterprise, regardless of size, located in the United States or its trust territories, that is owned, operated and controlled by women. Ownership by women means the business is at least 51% owned by such individuals or, in the case of publicly owned business, at least 51% of the stock is owned by one or more such individuals. Further, women control the management and daily operations.
• Work and family programs: Work programs and benefits, such as adoption benefits, dependent care assistance, leave programs, flextime, compressed workweeks, telecommuting, etc., implemented to provide employees with greater flexibility to meet both work and family demands.
• Work/life balance: Having a measure of control over when, where and how in

Expatriate: An employee who is transferred to work abroad on a long-term job assignment.
• Expectancy theory: A motivational theory concluding that individuals feel a sense of pleasure and gratification when they have completed a challenging task and therefore are generally more motivated.
• Expedited arbitration: A dispute resolution method used by the American Arbitration Association to resolve cases in accordance with a prescribed set of guidelines.
• External benchmarking: The process of comparing an organization’s current policies and practices to that of a competitor organization(s) to determine current and future trends in areas of employment and business practice (i.e., compensation, benefits, HR practices).
• Extrinsic motivator: Organizationally controlled incentives, such as pay, benefits, incentives, achievement awards, etc., used to reinforce motivation and increase performance.
• Extrinsic reward: Work-related rewards that have a measurable monetary value, unlike intrinsic rewards, such as praise or satisfaction in a job well done.
• Face validity: Making a decision regarding the appropriateness of a test or other assessment instrument based on appearance rather than objective criteria.
• Facilitator: A trainer who assists a group in learning or reaching a specific goal by directing and controlling the group process and allowing the group to work collectively to resolve problems and come up with solutions.
• Fact finding: The process of utilizing an impartial third party, not employed by the organization, to examine all pertinent facts surrounding a complaint.
• Fact-finding conference: An informal meeting directed by the EEOC to settle discrimination complaints between an employer and the plaintiff.
• Factor comparison: A job comparison process involving ranking each individual job by certain selected compensable factors to establish appropriate values to be used in determining pay rates.
• Factor weight: Used in the job evaluation process, it is the process of assigning a weight to compensable factors to determine their relative worth.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) of 1969: The FCRA requires employers that use credit reports and that deny employment on the basis of a credit report to so notify the applicant and to provide the name and address of the consumer reporting agency used.
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938: An act that covers public agencies and businesses engaged in interstate commerce or providing goods and services for commerce. The FLSA provides guidelines on employment status, child labor, minimum wage, overtime pay and record-keeping requirements. It determines which employees are exempt from the Act (not covered by it) and which are nonexempt (covered by the Act). It establishes wage and time requirements when minors can work. It sets the minimum wage that must be paid and mandates when overtime must be paid.
• Fair representation: This term means that a trade union, so long as it continues to be entitled to represent employees in a bargaining unit, may not act in a manner that is arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith in the representation of any employees in the unit.
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)of 1993: The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows employees who have met minimum service requirements (12 months employed by the company with 1,250 hours of service in the preceding 12 months) to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for: (1) a serious health condition; (2) to care for a family member with a serious health condition; (3) the birth of a child; or (4) the placement of a child for adoption or foster care.
• Family-friendly: A policy or practice designed to help families spend more time together and/or enjoy a better quality of life.
• Family status change: Used to define changes to an individuals existing family standing. Typically found in health care benefit plans covered by section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code. IRC 125, does not allow individuals enrolled in a covered benefit plan to make election changes to their existing benefits coverage outside of the plans annual open enrollment period, unless a qualifying change in family or employment status, defined by the IRS as a "Qualified Family Status Change" has occurred (i.e. marriage, divorce, legal separation, death, birth/adoption, changes in employment status, cessation of dependent status, or a significant change in cost or reduction of benefits.)
• Fast-trackers: A term used to describe employees who have exhibited strong potential for promotion and are being primed for higher level professional or technical positions within the organization.
• Fat organization: An organization with a structure consisting of several layers of management.
• Feasibility study: A study designed to discover if a business, product, project or process justify the investment of time, money and other resources.
• Featherbedding: An unfair labor practice occurring when a union requires an employer to pay an employee for services he or she did not perform.
• Feedback: Positive or negative information provided to an individual in the form of coaching or counseling regarding his or her performance or behavior.
• Fetal protection policy: An employer policy meant to protect a pregnant woman’s unborn fetus by excluding pregnant women from engaging in jobs requiring exposure to or the use of hazardous chemicals or materials.
• Field interview: An employment interview conducted away from the employer’s actual worksite.
• Financial statement: A report containing financial information derived from an organizational accounting record.
• Fitness for duty: A document provided by a medical practitioner following a post-offer medical examination containing information used by the employer to determine a candidate’s ability to perform the functions of a job. Also used to refer to documents or notes from medical providers releasing individuals under their care to resume full or modified duties following a leave of absence due to illness or injury.
• Fixed year: A term used to describe an invariable year such as a calendar or fiscal year.
• Flat organization: An organization characterized by having only a few layers of management from top to bottom.
• Flexible benefit plan: A benefit program regulated under IRC 125 that offers employees a choice between permissible taxable benefits (including cash) and nontaxable benefits such as life and health insurance, vacations, retirement plans and child/dependent care. Although a common core of benefits may be required, the employee may determine how his or her remaining benefits dollars are allocated for each type of benefit from the total amount offered by the employer.
• Flexible scheduling: An alternative work arrangement providing employees with greater flexibility in meeting their own personal needs by allowing them to work nontraditional schedules (i.e., compressed workweek, summer hours or flextime).