HR DICTIONARY

401K

401k plan is a kind of retirement savings plan wherein the employee can authorize the
employer to deduct certain amount from his/her pay (subject to certain limits) before tax
calculations. The amount so deducted can be invested in various investment options of the
employer under this plan as per employee’s choice.

403(b)

403(b) is a specific retirement savings plan for the employees of tax exempt organizations
like educational institutions and other non-profit organizations falling under section 501( c ) (
3 ). Employees contribute towards this plan by putting aside a certain amount from their
salary on a pre-tax basis based on the agreement with the employer for investment. The
earnings are tax free until withdrawn from the account

Accidental Death and Dismemberment

Accidental death and dismemberment insurance is a form of accident insurance than covers
the insured against death or injury due to accident. Dismemberment can be defined as loss of
two limbs and total loss of eyesight. However, these accidents should not be caused by
natural disasters. The premium for this insurance is lesser than that of the life insurance
because the probability of death due to accident is lower than that death due to natural causes.

Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance

Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance is a kind of health insurance that covers the
risk against both loss of life as well as loss of any part of the body due to an accident.

Accrual

Accrual refers to the accumulation of income or leave time in return for the extra hours put in
by an employee.

Adoption Benefits

Adoption benefits are related to the adoption of child by an employee. The benefits may
come in form of cash payments or reimbursements for the expenses incurred in the adoption
process, parental or family leave, and so on. These benefits may be fully or partially tax
exempt based on the nature and amount of these benefits.

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Advance Earned Income Credit

Advance Earned Income Credit is a provision by the IRS, which allows an eligible taxpayer
to gain his due credit in parts with his paycheck. It can be availed of by taxpayers who have
at least one qualifying child or who do not have a child due to unavoidable circumstances.
This credit can be claimed on the beneficiary's tax return.

After-Tax Deduction

Any deduction made to an employee's pay after withholding the tax amount is called an after-
tax deduction. This does not help in reducing the taxable income. Some common After-Tax
Deductions are life insurance, disability insurance and charity donations

Annuities

Annuity is an investment made either on a one time basis or through the installments over a
period of time. Specific returns are earned on a regular basis - annually or half yearly or on
monthly basis for life time or for a particular period.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative dispute resolution is an informal technique of conflict resolution where attempts

are made to solve the conflict out of court. It includes techniques like negotiation,
conciliation, mediation and arbitration.

Arbitration

Arbitration is a kind of alternative dispute resolution wherein the parties to conflict submit
their case/conflict to a neutral third party called an "arbitrator." The arbitrator gives his
judgment, which is binding upon both the parties.

Assignment of Benefits

Assignment of benefits is the facility that a patient has to directly transfer his/her health
benefit payments to the hospital or doctor.

Attendance Policy

Attendance policy involves the rules and regulations of a company for the attendance and
absenteeism of employees on working days. An attendance policy has terms and conditions
designed to manage common attendance problems, sick leaves, annual leaves and so on

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Background Check

Background check refers to the verification of the details provided by a candidate in his/her
resume, interview or application letter. It involves authentication of information such as
academic credentials; previous employment details including salary, longevity of work and
work ethics; physical or health exams; credit check; criminal check and other details of the
candidate important to judge his honesty and reliability for a position.

Beneficiary

Beneficiary is any entity who is nominated to receive the benefits of the insurance policy of
the insured upon death of the insured or maturity of the policy.

Benefits Administration

Benefits Administration software helps administer and manage multiple benefits program like
- life insurance, health benefits, dependent care reimbursement, leave benefits, savings,
retirement plans etc through a single web based product.

Benefit Package

Benefit package is the set of services and benefits that an individual or member is entitled to
receive under a contract of health-insurance plan.

Blackout Period

The period when a surviving spouse is neither eligible to get survivor benefits nor retirement
benefits is called a blackout period. This generally happens when the youngest child of the
person reaches the age of 16 before the person starts getting retirement benefits.

Blanket Medical Expense

Blanket medical expense insurance provides protection against a wide range of medical
expenses. Only those medical expenses that are expressly excluded from the plan are not
covered.

Business Interruption Insurance

Business Interruption Insurance provides the business owners the cover against any damage
occurred to their business premises due to some disaster. It comes packed along with the
property insurance policy and not separately. It compensates for the lost income, profit,
operating expenses etc (due to temporary unusability of the premises) based on the past
financial records of the business.

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Business Process Outsourcing

Business Process Outsourcing refers to a contractual arrangement wherein a third

party/vendor/service provider is engaged to perform certain business functions and processes
for the organization. Generally functions/processes are outsourced to get the benefits like -
low cost, expertise of the provider etc.

Capital Appreciation

Capital appreciation can be defined as an increase in the value of investment. It could refer to
an increase in value or shares or other assets. It is often taken as the basis for an investment.

Cafeteria Plans

Cafeteria plans are those that enable the employees to keep certain amount out of their pretax
salary aside for child care and/or certain medical expenses or other employee benefits.

Capital Gain

Capital Gain refers to the benefit arisen out of sale of the stock by an individual after a
minimum period of 2 years from the date of option granted to him/her. It generally is the
difference between the exercise price and the fair market value of the stock at the time of
sale.

Catastrophic Disability

Catastrophic disability refers to permanent and complete loss of speech, hearing sight or
partial or complete loss of limbs due to an accident or illness.

Career Opportunities: Career opportunities identify the development opportunities for an

employee within the organization based on his/her performance appraisals/review records.

Child-Support Withholding

Child-support withholding refers to the deduction of a specific amount from the parents'
monthly pay toward child support. This withholding is legally ordered and is enforced in case
of divorce or separation.

Codes of Conduct

Codes of conduct are the guiding principles and ethical standards set by the employer. Both
the employees and the employer need to comply with it in all of their actions.

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Coinsurance Clause

Coinsurance clause refers to the arrangement wherein a part of the medical expenses are
covered by the plan (say 70 or 80 percent) and the remaining expenses are to be borne by the
insured depending upon the policy. Also, it is related to the insurance of real property
wherein the clause requires the insured to also have fire insurance coverage of the property
for at least 80 percent of the replacement value of that property.

Compensatory Time

Compensatory time refers to the time off granted to an employee in return for working extra
hours. For every extra hour worked, an employee gets an hour-and-a-half off. Informally
known as comp time, it is an alternative to overtime pay.

Community Service

Community service refers to volunteer work that beneifts the community, general public or
society as a whole.

Compliance

Compliance refers to the following of organizational policies, rules and legal issues such as
contracts. Adhering to various quality standards also fall under compliance.

Comprehensive Major Medical

Comprehensive major medical is a kind of health insurance that covers major medical
expenses such as hospital expenses, surgical expenses and so on incurred by the insured on
account of illness or injury that are covered under the policy.

Computer Consultants

Computer consultants are those entities who provide computer-related services like training,
networking solutions, hardware/software solutions and so on. He/she might be an employee
of the organization or an independent contractor. These consultants may be programmers,
system developers, networking specialists, system analysts and so on.

Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is the process of settling the dispute or conflict among the parties with
mutual consent and in a mutually beneficial way.

Consultant
A consultant is one who acts as a professional advisor to the parties and who has expert
knowledge and skills in the field. Often he/she is a third party but can also be an employee of
either party in some cases. He/she provides his/her specialized services for a fee.

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Contracts

An employment contract is a written agreement made between an employer and an employee

when the employee is hired. It contains details about the terms and conditions of the job,
including salary package, bonus and incentives, minimum notice period to be given prior to
leaving the job, trade secret policies, duties and responsibilities of the employee, and so on.

Copay

Copay is the amount that an insured needs to pay for his/her medical service expenses and
which the insurance companies refer to for the purpose of sharing these cost.

Cover Letter

A cover letter is a document attached with the resume of a job applicant to highlight specific
points about his/her skills and experiences. It must ideally contain information specific to the
requirement of the job applied for. Cover letters are often used as marketing tools by
candidates to convince the recruiters about their interest in the organization and their
suitability for a position.

Covered Expenses

Covered expenses are all those health care and medical expenses incurred by the insured on
account of illness, injury and so on and which come under the purview of the said policy.
These are the expenses that are not expressly excluded and are entitled for reimbursement.

Coordination of Benefits

Coordination of benefit refers to the situation where the insured is covered under two or more
policies/insurers and claims coincide. It is an arrangement of the insurers to avoid duplicate
payments for the same claim as well as determine the amount payable by each insurer under
each plan.

Crisis Management Plans

Crisis Management Plans is the outline of the possible courses of action that can be taken to
face and handle the crisis. It chalks out various elements like - anticipated situations,
availability of resources, who will do what, how and when, possible solutions etc.

Death Benefit

Death benefit indicates the amount/benefit payable or paid by the insurance company to the
legal beneficiaries of the deceased insured as per the agreement of insurance policy.

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Deductible

Deductible is the amount that the policy holder has to initially expend (for the losses
occurred) until it gets reimbursed as per the coinsurance rate.

Deferred Compensation Plan

Deferred compensation plan refers to an arrangement under which an employer defers an

employee's income to a later date. Along with the amount, the tax to be levied on it is also
deferred, thus helping the employee get a tax exemption for the running financial year.

Dependent Care Plans

Dependant Care Plan - is a benefit program in which the employee is free to set aside a
certain sum of money out of his/her salary for the child care expenses on an annual basis. The
amount is accordingly deducted by the employer in equal installments and reimbursed to the
employees.

Dental Insurance

Dental insurance is a type of insurance that covers the expenses incurred by the insured on
any or specific dental problems.

Dependent Coverage

Dependent coverage under health-insurance plans extends the benefits of the plan to the
dependents of the insured. It covers the health-related expenses of the spouse and dependent
unmarried children below certain age.

Disability Benefits Law

Disability benefits law is a state law that compels an employer to pay benefits to his or her
employee if he is unable to work due to any injuries. This law is presently effective only in
some states.

Disability Income Insurance

Disability income insurance is a health insurance that covers the insured against disability to
work due to injury or sickness. It provides periodic income to the insured till he or she
reaches the regular retirement age.

Disability Insurance

Disability insurance is a form of health insurance that covers the insured against the disability
to work due to any illness or injury.

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Dependent Care Plans

Dependant Care Plan - is a benefit program in which the employee is free to set aside a
certain sum of money out of his/her salary for the child care expenses on an annual basis. The
amount is accordingly deducted by the employer in equal installments and reimbursed to the
employees.

Disfigurement

Disfigurement refers to a permanent damage to a person's appearance, primarily face, caused

by accidents or injuries.

Disability Income Insurance

Disability income insurance is a health insurance that covers the insured against disability to
work due to injury or sickness. It provides periodic income to the insured till he or she
reaches the regular retirement age.

Disciplinary Record

A disciplinary record is a document that contains information about an employee's past

performance in context of disciplinary issues. This record is referred to during disciplinary
hearings or appraisal.

Disaster Preparedness

Disaster Preparedness means taking all the precautionary steps including forecasting of the
possible disaster events. It is done to avoid mass destruction as well as effectively manage the
post-disaster situation.

Documentation

Documentation deals with retaining the performance appraisal information of all the
employees within the organization. It aims at maintaining a written record of all the
performance review data of the employees.

Double Indemnity

Double indemnity is a provision that provides for payment of double the standard Insurance
policy amount in case of death due to specific causes.

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Downsizing

Downsizing refers to reducing the number of employees in an organization primarily as a

result of redefining business strategy. It may involve reducing the number of organizational
hierarchies for more flexibility in operations or removing few positions that are no longer
productive for the business.

Dress Codes

Dress codes are the set of uniform standards for professional appearance at the workplace for
all the members of the organization.

Drug Price Review

Drug price review involves monitoring and determining the maximum prices as well as
wholesale prices for the drugs.

Drug Utilization Review

Drug utilization review involves evaluation of the utilization pattern of drugs and its
appropriateness and effectiveness. The aim is to induce cost-effective drug utilization.

Earned Income Credit

Earned Income Credit is a refundable tax credit for individuals or families with low earned
income. To avail of this credit, individuals have to fulfill certain requirements and file tax
returns even if their income doesn't make a tax return obligatory.

Eligibility Date

Eligibility date represents the date on which the member of the insured group becomes
eligible to get the benefits under the contract.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility requirements are the bare minimum requirements or criteria that the person needs
to fulfill in order to qualify for enrolling into a particular insurance plan/policy coverage.

Eligible Employee

An eligible employee is one who satisfies all the requirements and conditions necessary to
qualify for a contract or coverage.

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Email Use Policies

Email use policies lay down the guidelines regarding the appropriate use of email in the
organization to prevent any misuse. All employees must observe the policy as established by
the employer.

Employee

Any person who is employed by an organization is an employee. However, as per the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, "the term 'employee' shall not include any person elected to public office
in any State or political subdivision of any State".

Employee Assistance Plans (EAP)

EAPs are specifically designed to help employees with their work-related problems such as
poor performance or absenteeism. These programs mainly involve counseling to deal with
drug and alcohol abuse, family/marital problems, health issues and so on.

Employee Benefits

Employee benefits comprise of all those benefits other than regular wages/salary that an
employee gets during the course of employment. Examples include insurance, retirement
benefits, holidays and vacation, and all other cash or noncash benefits.

Employee Handbooks

Employee Handbook is a document provided by the employer that consists of all the
information that an employee needs during the course of employment. It may include
information on various issues like expected performance and behavior, dress code, various
company policies, mission & vision, etc.

Employee Handbook

An employee handbook is a document provided by the employer that consists of all the
information that an employee needs during the course of employment. It may include
information on various issues like expected performance and behavior, dress code, various
company policies, mission and vision, and so on.

Employee Information Management

Employee Information Management - a software that keeps the record of all the employee
information like education, skills, marital status, achievements, training undergone,
experience, industry background, leave status and so on. It is an interactive system accessible
by the employees as well to make updates if any.

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Employee Ownership

When the employees of an organization hold stake in it, it is called employee ownership.

Employee Records

Employee records are a kind of database that maintains up-to-date employee information for
organizational and legal purposes.

Employee Referral Program

An employee referral program involves plans to reward existing employees of a company for
referring qualified candidates for job vacancies in the organization. The rewards may be
given in the form of monetary or nonmonetary incentives. These programs enable companies
to recruit high-quality people at minimum cost and time.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Employee Stock Purchase Plan is the one which allows the individual to buy stock of the
company at a discount. Generally the discount rate is around 15% on the current market
price. It provides financial benefits as no tax is to be paid at the time of purchase.

Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESOP)

ESOP is an ownership plan that allows the employees of an organization to purchase stock in
their company at a discount.

Employer Tax Identification Number : Also known as Employer Identification Number, it

is a number assigned to each business entity by the IRS. A company's EIN will change every
time there is a change in ownership or structure.

Employer Contribution

Employer contribution is the amount that the employer bears towards employee health-
benefit plans. It is a tax-deductible expense for the employer.

Employment History

Employment history covers details about a candidate’s earlier work experiences. It involves
collecting all the relevant information about an applicant’s work history, such as the names of
previous firms where the employee worked and their locations; the compensation packages;
the longevity of work in each business; job profiles; and every other detail that may serve
useful to evaluate a candidate for a position.

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Enrollment Period

Enrollment period refers to the period during which one may enroll for the coverage during
his/her employment.

Evidence of Coverage

Evidence of coverage is a detailed statement that contains information as to the covered

services, as well as to the insured's rights and responsibilities, obligations and so on.

Exempt

Exempt is the state of being relieved from the purview of a rule or policy. For taxation
purposes, it means a situation where an individual is relieved from paying taxes.

Exercise Price

Exercise Price is the price at which the employee can purchase the stock. It is also known as
'strike price'. It is predetermined at the time of stock option offer made. It serves as a tool to
benefit from the difference between exercise price and the market price of the stock.

Exit Interview

An exit interview is a meeting conducted between a departing employee and a management

representative of an organization to discuss the reasons for employee’s resignation. Exit
interviews are and important way for a company to learn its shortcomings in terms of
training, management, pay structures, staff, and so on and improve on them

Explanation of Benefits

Explanation of benefits describes the details of the medical benefits and services rendered to
the insured and the charges paid and owed thereof. Such a statement is supplied to the
individual after the services are rendered upon him

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The FMLA is a law that allows an employee to avail of up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave
during a 12-year period in situations like the birth of a child; adoption or foster care of a
child; serious health condition of the child, spouse or parent of the employee; or serious
health condition of the employee.

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Federal Emergency Planning Association (FEMA)

FEMA works towards reducing the loss of lives and property of the nation and protect it from
all the natural as well as man-made disasters. It tries to achieve this mission through the
emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, mitigation and
recovery.

Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA)

FICA is an Act that withholds an equal amount from the income of employees as well as
employers to fund the Social Security program and Medicare. Half of the amount specified
by FICA is paid for by employees and the other half by the employer.

Fee Schedule

Fee schedule is the list that shows the details of the amount of fees to be paid by the
insurance companies to the doctors or other health service providers in return of their
services.

Feedback

Feedback is the process of giving and soliciting the information to the employees during the
performance- appraisal sessions.

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Flexible Spending Account (FSA) provides the employees to avail of the medical benefits
that cannot be reimbursed by regular health insurance plan. The employee can get a certain
amount deducted from his/her pay on pre-tax basis and put it in the company's FSA and get
tax benefits along side medical expense reimbursement.

Flexible Work Schedules

Flexible work schedules refer to the facility provided to the employees to choose their
working hours (arrival and departure times) from a set of different schedules within certain
limits and based on their work responsibilities. It is also known as alternate work schedules.

Garnishment

Garnishment is the amount withheld by an employer from the employee's wages based upon
a court order. The reason behind such an order is generally to fund the employee's debt like
child care, taxes or other debts.

Goal Setting

Goal setting is establishing the goals/objectives that an employee should achieve. The goals
need to be clearly communicated between the employer and the employees.

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Grace Period

Grace period is the additional time allowed to the insured to make payment of premium
toward the policy without any penalty, thereby keeping the policy alive.

Gross Wages

Gross wages are the amount of compensation received by an employee before any deduction
(taxes, fees etc) is made.

Group Disability Insurance

Group disability insurance is a health insurance that covers a group of people against injury
due to an accident or sickness. The people covered are associated in some way, for instance,
they might work for the same organization. Group disability insurance is cheaper than
individual insurance. Also, its income benefits are limited 50 to 60 percent of earnings and up
to specified time.

Group Health Insurance

Group health insurance provides medical benefit coverage to a group of people, such as
employees (and in some cases their dependents) of the organization. The employer provides
such benefit by either contributing in full or part toward the insurance premium.

Group Life Insurance

Group life insurance is provided by the employer covering all the member/employees under
one single plan. It is a kind of term insurance as it gets terminated when the employee leaves
the organization or attains certain age.

Group Term Life

Group term life is a kind of insurance paid for by the employer for his employees. This
insurance is renewable after a fixed term and builds no cash value.

Health Insurance

Health insurance, also known as medical insurance, provides protection against any illness or
physical injury and covers medical expenses like medicine, hospital stays, doctor's fees and
so on.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

HIPAA is an Act set up in 1996 to have standardized electronic health care dealings. It covers
issues like identification of health care providers, health plans, employers, and security and
privacy of health care records.

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Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

HMO is a system that involves connections with various physicians, medical groups,
hospitals, clinics and so on to provide comprehensive medical services to its members. It is a
kind of pre-paid group health plan where the predetermined charges are cut from the
members' pay on a periodic basis

Health Plan

A health plan, be it individual or group, provides coverage against any medical or health care
cost incurred by the insured.

Hiring

Hiring is the process involved in employing a person on service for a pay/fee. Simply it
means to employ someone.

Holiday Parties

Holiday parties are events where colleagues, superiors and subordinates all get together with
or without family/spouses. Such office parties help boost up the morale of the employees,
make them feel valuable and appreciated, strengthen the working relationship, and serve as a
motivational tool.

HR Management

HR management is a business function that covers wide area of activities related to human
resources lsuch as recruitment and selection of the right candidates, training, performance
management, compensation, benefits, various policies, and so on.

HR OUTSOURCING:

Risk Management

Risk management pertains to solutions that minimize and manage the risks involved in any of
the activities/ functions. It may involve tools like insurance, disaster planning, workmen's
compensation and so on.

HR Management

HR management is a business function that covers wide area of activities related to human
resources lsuch as recruitment and selection of the right candidates, training, performance
management, compensation, benefits, various policies, and so on.

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Employee Benefits

Employee benefits comprise of all those benefits other than regular wages/salary that an
employee gets during the course of employment. Examples include insurance, retirement
benefits, holidays and vacation, and all other cash or noncash benefits.

Payroll Administration

Payroll administration includes administration of various functions related to payroll like

handling of taxes, calculating leave time, drawing checks, calculating benefits and so on.

Business Process Outsourcing

Business Process Outsourcing refers to a contractual arrangement wherein a third

party/vendor/service provider is engaged to perform certain business functions and processes
for the organization. Generally functions/processes are outsourced to get the benefits like -
low cost, expertise of the provider etc.

Professional Employer Organization

Professional employer organization is the one that takes the responsibility of the employees
of the client organizations. It administers the HR-related functions (wages, benefits, taxes and
so on) of these employees on behalf of the client organization for a fee. There exists the
employer-employee relationship between the PEO and the employees of the client
organization.

Fee Schedule

Fee schedule is the list that shows the details of the amount of fees to be paid by the
insurance companies to the doctors or other health service providers in return of their
services.

Cafeteria Plans

Cafeteria plans are those that enable the employees to keep certain amount out of their pretax
salary aside for child care and/or certain medical expenses or other employee benefits.

Job Application

A job application is a letter prepared by a candidate to apply for a position in an organization.

This application must contain details such as candidate’s contact information, his education
qualification, the position applied for, information about his previous employment, references
and other details important to apply for a job.

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Identify Issues

Identify issues are ones that occur due to the inability of the parties to identify the other
parties to the conflict, the overlooked issues of the conflict, other available options, and so
on.

Incentive Stock Option

Incentive Stock Option is just like a normal stock option plan - giving the right to the
employee to purchase the stock at some future date and specified price. The difference is that
it provides tax benefits as there is no tax levied until the stock is sold.

Incentive-Based Retirement

Incentive based retirement refers to a program wherein the employer offers an employee
various benefits like company stocks, provided the employee retires early. This is done
mainly to introduce younger and more efficient employees.

Independent Contractors

Independent contractors are the independent entities that provide their services purely on a
contractual basis and not on permanent basis. Their acts are governed by the contract whether
express or implied.

Independent Medical Examination

An Independent medical examination is a health checkup conducted by a physician who does

not treat the concerned patient regularly.

Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)

IRAs are specific retirement savings tool. They are the accounts which help plan for the
retirement with tax benefits.

Coordination of Benefits

Coordination of benefit refers to the situation where the insured is covered under two or more
policies/insurers and claims coincide. It is an arrangement of the insurers to avoid duplicate
payments for the same claim as well as determine the amount payable by each insurer under
each plan.

Copay

Copay is the amount that an insured needs to pay for his/her medical service expenses and
which the insurance companies refer to for the purpose of sharing these cost.

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Dependent Coverage

Dependent coverage under health-insurance plans extends the benefits of the plan to the
dependents of the insured. It covers the health-related expenses of the spouse and dependent
unmarried children below certain age.

Out-of-Pocket Costs

Out-of-pocket costs refer to the expenses incurred by an individual in terms of their health
and medical care expenses that are tax deductible. They may or may not be reimbursable in
future.

Job Application

A job application is a letter prepared by a candidate to apply for a position in an organization.

This application must contain details such as candidate’s contact information, his education
qualification, the position applied for, information about his previous employment, references
and other details important to apply for a job.

Job Description

Job description is the determination of the functions and responsibilities of a job of an

organization. It includes a detailed analysis of the skills and knowledge required to do a
specific job, as well as the salary for the position.

Job Description (Employee Records)

A job description is a written document that lists down the tasks, duties, functions and
responsibilities involved in a particular job/position. It is a formal way to make the job
requirements clear to the employee/incumbent.

Job Expectations

Job expectations refers to the expectations of the employee from his/her job as well as what is
expected from the employee in a particular job.

Job Listing

Job listing refers to advertising vacant job profiles of a company to enable job seekers apply
for the posts. It contains details about the name of the company, position title, salary and
benefits, qualification and work experience needed, and the mode of application. Job listing is
done with the help of major job Web sites such as Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com,
HotJobs.com and so on, as well as newspapers and magazines

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Job Performance

Job performance is any work-related performance that any employer can appraise.

Joint Life Insurance

Joint life insurance covers two or more persons against death under a single plan. The death
benefits become payable at the time either party dies.

Key-Person Life Insurance

Key person life insurance covers the business against the death of the key person of a
business. The key person could be an executive, owner, partner or even a majority
stockholder. The owner is the beneficiary of this policy.

Layoffs

Layoff refers to the termination of the job of an employee or a group of employees from an
organization, mostly for economic reasons. Layoffs may be a result of a downfall in business,
decreased productivity of the employees, increasing labor costs that the organization cannot
afford, or other cost-reduction measures

Leave of Absence

Leave of absence refers to a period of absence from work, with or without pay, without losing
the status of an "employee."

Legal Holiday Schedule

A day that is legally recognized as a holiday in a country, state or province is called a legal
holiday. The schedule of such holidays is a legal holiday schedule.

Legal Issues : Legal issues refer to the various provisions and regulations that govern the
termination of an employee from the service. This includes issues like lawsuits, severance
packages and paychecks.

Length of Stay Length of stay refers to the number of days a patient spends in the hospital.

Levy Levy is the act of imposing a tax, fee or other charges on an employee's income.

Life Insurance

Life Insurance is an instrument that provides coverage against loss of life. It is an agreement
between the insured and the insurance company wherein the beneficiaries of the insured get a
certain sum of money from the insurance company upon the death of the insured.

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Life Underwriter

A Life underwriter is a qualified advisor in sectors like risk management, estate planning and
life insurance. A life underwriter advises individuals, businesses and establishments on
matters pertaining to the above sectors.

Light Duty

Light duty refers to a job that doesn't require an employee to perform the normal activities
associated with the position. This is applicable to both temporary and permanent jobs and is
generally used to excuse injured, impaired or ill people from performing normal job
activities.

Local Withholding Rate

Local withholding rate refers to the rate of the withholding tax, which varies from one state to
the other. Withholding tax is an amount deducted from an employee's monthly pay towards
payment of Federal taxes. This amount is determined depending upon the estimated yearly
liability of an employee.

Long-Term Disability Insurance

Long-term disability insurance is a health insurance that provides replaces a percentage of the
insured person’s earning if he is unable to work due to an injury or illness. Usually, this
insurance provides benefits for five years or until the person reaches 65 years of age.

Lunch Lunch refers to the meals taken in the afternoon along with the team members in the
organization.

Universal Life

Universal life is a permanent life insurance policy that allows the policy holder to decide the
premium and the benefits he wants. He can select the benefits and pay premium accordingly
or decide the premium and then select the benefits. However, the premium cannot be less
than the cost of the policy.

Mortality Rate

Mortality rate can be defined as the number of deaths expressed as a percentage of the total
population. It is usually scaled against a population of 1,000 or 100,000.

Medicare : Medicare is a U.S. Federal Government program that provides health insurance
to eligible citizens over the age of 65. This covers hospital benefits as well as medical
expenses.

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Medical Documents

Medical documents refer to all the records, reports, and papers retained by the organization
for all of the employees' work-related medical issues. It includes documents like sick-leave
applications, doctors' notes on health issues, disability claim forms and so on.

Mediation

Mediation is a kind of conflict-resolution technique wherein a neutral mediator helps the

disputing parties to reach an amicable solution.

Maturity Value

Maturity value represents the amount that is payable to the insured when the policy matures.
includes the principal amount plus interest/benefits that to be paid as on maturity date.

Maturity Date

Maturity date is the date on which the amount/benefits of the policy become payable to the
policy holder/insured or his/her legal beneficiaries in the event of death of the insured.

Minimum Wage

It is illegal to hire somebody for wages less than that amount.

Managed Care

Managed care is a form of HMO in which health care services are provided to the members
within the cost and budget constraints. The focus of this system is on quality and cost-
effectiveness of the services provided through selected service providers.

Negotiation

Negotiation is one of the tools used to resolve conflicts. It involves one-to-one discussion
(oral or written communication) among the conflicted parties in an attempt to come to a
mutually satisfactory agreement and solve the dispute among themselves.

Net Pay Net pay is the amount of pay an employee receives after all the required deductions
are made from the gross pay.

Nonexempt Status

Under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, Nonexempt is a status under which the
employee is eligible to receive overtime pay for working over a stipulated number of hours
per week.

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Nonparticipating Provider

Nonparticipating provider refers to those health care professionals who are not affiliated with
the HMOs and PPOs to provide health care services.

Occupational Disease

Any disease caused due to disease-inducing conditions as part of a person's job is called an
occupational disease. It also includes work-related stress.

Occupational Injury

Occupational injury is any injury or impairment caused due to an accident or safety lapse at
work.

Off-site Meetings

A team meeting held away from the regular/routine meeting rooms is called an off-site
meeting. Meetings are held off-site to foster the creativity, problem solving and
communication skills of the team members in a new environment.

Offer Letters

Offer letters are job-confirmation letters given to the applicants who are finalized by the
recruiters to fill up the vacancies in an organization. They contain details such as job
description, salary structure and incentives, benefits, holiday allotments, and other important
details about the job.

Online Recruiting

Online recruiting involves searching job applicants globally on the web. Recruitment
websites such as monster.com, jobseeker.com, etc enable the companies to monitor resumes
online; match resumes with job specifications, short list them and schedule interviews with
prospective candidates. Online recruiting saves lot of resources of a company both in terms of
time and money.

Open Enrollment Period

Open enrollment period is a period ranging from 10 to 30 days during which the employees
can enroll themselves for particular insurance.

Out-of-Pocket Costs

Out-of-pocket costs refer to the expenses incurred by an individual in terms of their health
and medical care expenses that are tax deductible. They may or may not be reimbursable in
future.

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Overtime

Overtime refers to the number of hours worked in excess of the regular/standard working
hours, for which an employee gets additional pay.

OSHA

OSHA is the division of US department of labor established to administer and enforce the
Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Act is all about setting standards to ensure workers'
and work place safety.

Partial Disability

Partial disability is a condition in which a person cannot perform some of the assigned
occupational duties.

Participating Provider

Participating provider is the one who associates/affiliates with the HMO, PPO or, other
managed care organizations or health-care service providers to provide medical services to
the members of these organizations under health insurance plan. Participating providers
include physicians, hospitals, other medical-related units and so on.

Payroll (Employee Records)

Payroll stores complete information regarding the employee payroll in a formal manner
including pay period, number of hours worked, deductions, overtime, gross income, net
income and so on.

Payroll Administration

Payroll administration includes administration of various functions related to payroll like

handling of taxes, calculating leave time, drawing checks, calculating benefits and so on.

Payroll Cycle

The payroll cycle refers to the period for which an employee gets paid. Some companies have
a monthly payroll cycle while some have a biweekly cycle. Usually, the cycle for exempt and
nonexempt employees is different.

Payroll Integration

Payroll Integration helps automate the payment calculations and transfer of time-based details
of employees' gross pay into payroll system.

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Pension

Pension is yet another retirement benefit given to the employee. It refers to a regular monthly
income paid to the employee after his/her retirement for life time.

Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal is the structured tool to measure and evaluate the performance of the
employee over a period of time. It helps identify high as well as poor performers in the
organization.

Performance Appraisal (Employee Records)

Performance appraisal are employee records that hold all of the employee performance
review information including achievements, behavior, strengths, weaknesses, suggested
actions, training, recommendation and so on. This stored data helps employers make
decisions as to promotion, remuneration, termination and so on and can serve as evidence in
legal defense.

Performance Measures

Performance measures are the various criteria used to observe and measure the performance
in a particular area or job as compared to the set standards.

Performance Appraisal (Employee Records)

Performance appraisal are employee records that hold all of the employee performance
review information including achievements, behavior, strengths, weaknesses, suggested
actions, training, recommendation and so on. This stored data helps employers make
decisions as to promotion, remuneration, termination and so on and can serve as evidence in
legal defense.

Prior Authorization

Prior authorization is the term used to describe the formal permission or approval that the
health service providers need to obtain from the concerned parties like the insurer, employer
and so on before actually providing any of the medical services to the insured member.

Primary Care

Primary care is the first initial health care that a patient receives through a general medical
practitioner, nurse, paramedic or other health-care service provider. It is the basic level of
care given under health care system before referring the patient to major hospitals.

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Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)

PPO is an insurance plan in which the insured gets more coverage and benefits in terms of
substantial discounts if he/she get sthe medical and health care services from participating
providers. It is an association between the insurance companies and the providers (doctors,
hospitals and so on).

Pre-existing Condition

Pre-existing condition represents the physical medical condition of the insured that has been
in existence prior to signing up for the particular policy.

Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)

PPO is an insurance plan in which the insured gets more coverage and benefits in terms of
substantial discounts if he/she get sthe medical and health care services from participating
providers. It is an association between the insurance companies and the providers (doctors,
hospitals and so on).

Personnel Services

Personnel services refer to the services offered by third-party companies who specialize in
hiring and staffing solutions. Their clientele includes companies who need recruitment
services or employee-training services.

Permanent Partial Disability

Permanent partial disability is compensation paid to an employee for his permanently reduced
capacity to work due to a work-related injury. The state workers’ compensation laws provide
guidelines to calculate the amount of compensation depending on the age, job position,
regular salary, severity of the injury and other job-related factors.

Personal Time off (PTO)

Personal time off refers to the paid personal holiday that an employee gets in addition to the
scheduled holidays. These holidays accrue and accumulate on an annual basis, and the
employees can use them for any personal reason in accordance with the company policies.

Professional Employer Organization

Professional employer organization is the one that takes the responsibility of the employees
of the client organizations. It administers the HR-related functions (wages, benefits, taxes and
so on) of these employees on behalf of the client organization for a fee. There exists the
employer-employee relationship between the PEO and the employees of the client
organization.

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Promotions : The rise in the position or rank of an employee in the organizational hierarchy
is referred to as a promotion.

Prioritization

Prioritization refers to the ability to make the most effective use of limited time and resources
by identifying priorities.

Recovery Plans

Recovery Plans depict the precautionary as well as preventive steps to deal with the disaster
and minimize the its effects. The purpose is to help an organization maintain and regain
normalcy in its functioning. Sometimes it is also referred to as Contingency Plan.

Recruiters

Recruiters are people responsible to form the workforce of an organization. They search,
screen, and interview promising job applicants to fill up the job vacancies in an organization.
The recruiters need to be aware of the personnel policies of the organization pertaining to
wages, incentives, dress codes, working conditions, etc to discuss them with the prospective
candidates.

Reference Check

Reference check refers to the verification of a prospective candidate’s employment records

with the previous employers. It involves checking the level of candidate’s performance in the
former organizations, his reputation among ex-co-workers, his work ethics and confirming
the duration of his work experience as mentioned by the candidate in his resume or
application letter.

Elapse or Recurrence Workers Compensation Benefits

When an employee suffers from a recurrence of an old injury after returning to work, he is
entitled to a compensation for the period of disability. This benefit is called relapse or
recurrence benefit. The amount of compensation is calculated as a proportion of the
employee’s lost wages due to absence from work.

Reporting

Reporting is an HRIS module that helps to create, run and manipulate customized reports of
human resources information electronically. It includes organizing and structuring of the data
and information. It involves the documentation of HRIS procedures.

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Residual Disability

Residual disability is a condition which results in a drop of more than 20 percent of and
employee's earnings before he/she suffered from the disability. The drop occurs when the
person cannot perform some of his occupational duties.

Restricted Stock

Restricted Stock is a kind of stock option which comes with certain restrictions in terms of
exercising the right to sell the offered stocks. Under this plan the employee can exercise
his/her right to sell the stock only after the vesting period is complete and restrictions lifted.

Restructuring

Restructuring refers to the reformation of the goals and strategies of a business to make it
more efficient and lucrative. It involves changing the size of the work force, levels of
hierarchy, and sometimes the duties and responsibilities of the employees.

Resume

Resume is a detailed account of a candidate’s profile, often attached with the job application
letter. It contains information about the candidate’s academic credentials, work history,
hobbies and references, as well as details on how to contact the candidate. In most
organizations, recruiters short-list applicants on the basis of information provided in their
resumes.

Retirement

Retirement is the phase of work life wherein the employee stops working.

Risk Management

Risk management pertains to solutions that minimize and manage the risks involved in any of
the activities/ functions. It may involve tools like insurance, disaster planning, workmen's
compensation and so on.

Roth IRAs

Roth IRAs provide for the contributions for the retirement purpose ( depending upon income
level) but these contributions are not tax-deductible. However all the earnings are fully tax-
free and can be withdrawn without paying federal taxes. The funds can be invested in various
instruments like stocks, bonds, certificate of deposits, etc.

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Variable Life Insurance

Variable life insurance is a type of whole life insurance under which the policy holder invests
his or her premium in the options available on the insurance provider’s portfolio. The amount
of benefits varies according to the performance of these investments. Usually, the insurance
company assures minimum benefit amount.

Value-Added Reseller (VAR)

An organization is known as a Value-Added Reseller if it is engaged in modifying an existing

product, add value to it and resell it as a new one. It is more prevalent in computer and other
such industries.

Vesting

Vesting refers to the period of time over which the proportion of shares of the stock option
are made available/transferred to the employee. Generally the period ranges from 4 to 5 years
during which the shares offered under stock option plan are given to the employee on a
proportionate basis. During this period the employee cannot sell or transfer the stock.

Vision Care Coverage

Vision care coverage is a kind of health insurance that covers costs associated with eye care
in terms of eye checkups, lenses and so on as incurred by the insured.

Vocational Rehabilitation

Vocational rehabilitation is a training program developed in an organization to help the

employees suffering from work-related injuries or disabilities resume work efficiently. It
involves providing services such as counseling, training, medical treatments and so on to the
disabled workers. Vocational rehabilitation may also include compensating such workers in
respect of tuition fees, transportation fees, training equipments, books and so on.

Wage Withholding

Wage withholding is the deduction of a specific amount by the employer from a noncustodial
parent's pay. This could be either court-ordered or voluntary and is done with the purpose of
funding child support or some other expenses.

Waiting Period

Waiting period is the time period between the date of employees' enrollment into a particular
insurance plan and the actual date of it being effective. Also it refers to the period between
the claims submitted and the actual payment/benefits received.

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Workers Compensation

Workers compensation is a program that aims to protect the interests of employees who are
injured while on duty. This covers benefits to the dependents of a deceased worker.

Workers Compensation Award

Award refers to the amount of money that an injured worker or the dependents of a deceased
worker receive as compensation.

Workers Compensation Review Board

The Compensation Review Board is a body that hears disputed cases of workers
compensation and makes appropriate rulings to solve the dispute.

Workers Compensation Settlement

Settlement refers to finalizing the amount and mode of payment of compensation to an

employee on account of an occupational injury. The conditions of the settlement may depend
upon several factors such as continuation of the employee in the organization, the seriousness
of the injury, recurrence of injury, and so on.

Workers Maximum Compensation Rate

Maximum compensation rate refers to the ceiling fixed with respect to the compensation of a
particular employee within a stipulated period. This is usually fixed in cases of highly-paid
employees. This could be weekly, monthly or even annually.

Workshops

Workshops refer to various team building programs, exercises, training sessions and so on,
which imbibe the sense and importance of teamwork in the organization and its employees.

State Unemployment Insurance

State unemployment insurance is a program sustained by the Federal Government and states.
Under this program, individuals who have lost their employment can avail of a certain
amount until they find another job. The rules governing this program differ from state to
state.

Stock Appreciation Rights

Stock Appreciation Right allows the employee to get a share in any appreciation of the
company's stock over a predetermined price. Employee can get the benefit of such an
increase in stock price either by way of cash or shares of stock or both without paying any
price for the same

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Stock Options

Stock ownerships can be defined as a remuneration or incentive plan wherein the employees
of a company can purchase the stock of their company at a specific time.

Surveys

Surveys are a tool to get feedback about the team, team members, team effectiveness,
performance and so on. They can be conducted by the team leader or by a third-party
consultant.

Survivorship Benefits

Survivorship benefits can be defined as the amount payable to the survivor/nominee of an

insurance policy after the owner of the insurance policy.

Taxable Wage Base

Taxable Wage Base is the maximum amount that can be subjected to the Social Security Tax.
Any income above that amount will not be subject to the tax.

Team Building

Team building is concerned with the creation, motivation and development of teams and the
encouragement of teamwork. It also aims at improving team performance through mutual
trust, support and communication among team members.

Temporary Disability Benefits

Temporary disability benefits are due to people who are unable to perform their occupational
functions due to any injury or illness. These benefits are due under TDB laws, which are
presently effective only in some states.

Temporary Employees

Temporary employees are workers hired for a limited period by an organization generally for
specific projects. Temporary workers are employed to meet certain short-term requirements
of a business, such as extra workload during a season or technical know-how for a project
that may not be available with the regular work force.

Temporary Partial Disability

Temporary partial disability is a condition when a worker’s ability to work reduces

temporarily due to an occupational injury. Under state workers’ compensation laws, such
workers need to be compensated by their employers until they are fit to work as before. The
amount of compensation is determined according to the guidelines of workers’ compensation
laws.

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Temporary Total Disability

Temporary total disability is the inability of a worker to engage in any occupation for a
temporary period due to a work-related injury or accident. Under state workers’
compensation laws, such temporary disabled workers are entitled to monetary and
nonmonetary benefits from their employers until they are fit to return to work.

Term Insurance

Term insurance is a temporary life insurance under which the policy holder is covered only
for a specified time. This means that the benefit will be payable to the insured if he or she
dies during a specific time.

Third Party Administrator

A third-party administrator is an independent organization that looks after the administrative

aspect of the insurance- claims processing and other related activities on behalf of entities
such as insurance companies and/or employers on a contractual basis.

Time Clock

Time Clock is used to keep the record of employees' working hours, the number of hours
employees work in the organization. It registers the incoming and outgoing time of the
employees through time cards or punch cards.

Time Management

Time management refers to one's ability to effectively manage and use the available time to
get the things done.

Traditional IRAs

Traditional IRAs allow the investors to contribute their compensation (depending upon their
income level) to fund their retirement . These contributions are tax deductible and funds can
be invested in stocks, bonds, certificates of deposits etc the earnings from which are tax-free
till they are in the account.

Training

Training can be defined as an opportunity provided to the employees to learn and acquire
skills and knowledge required to meet their current and future job objectives and goals. Based
on the performance appraisal data of an employee, relevant training is given to him/her to
increase individual as well as organizational performance

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Universal Life

Universal life is a permanent life insurance policy that allows the policy holder to decide the
premium and the benefits he wants. He can select the benefits and pay premium accordingly
or decide the premium and then select the benefits. However, the premium cannot be less
than the cost of the policy.

Vacation Days

Vacation days refer to the specific period allotted to the employees to stay away from work to
relax, rest and enjoy themselves. It generally comes with pay.

Valuation

Valuation can be defined as the appraisal of the value of an asset. It is usually in form of a
written report.

State Disability Insurance (SDI)

State Disability Insurance is an insurance plan that provides wage-replacement benefits to

workers in California. In case of an illness, injury or other medical condition outside of work
that results in a wage-loss, the SDI provides various benefits to offset that loss partially. This
scheme is financed through payroll deductions.

State Income Tax

State income tax is a tax levied on liable employees. Some states in U.S. don't levy an income
tax, while some limit the income tax to certain types of income.

State Unemployment Insurance

State unemployment insurance is a program sustained by the Federal Government and states.
Under this program, individuals who have lost their employment can avail of a certain
amount until they find another job. The rules governing this program differ from state to state

Stock Options

Stock ownerships can be defined as a remuneration or incentive plan wherein the employees
of a company can purchase the stock of their company at a specific time.

Stock Appreciation Rights

Stock Appreciation Right allows the employee to get a share in any appreciation of the
company's stock over a predetermined price. Employee can get the benefit of such an
increase in stock price either by way of cash or shares of stock or both without paying any
price for the same.

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Surveys

Surveys are a tool to get feedback about the team, team members, team effectiveness,
performance and so on. They can be conducted by the team leader or by a third-party
consultant.

Survivorship Benefits

Survivorship benefits can be defined as the amount payable to the survivor/nominee of an

insurance policy after the owner of the insurance policy.

Taxable Wage Base

Taxable Wage Base is the maximum amount that can be subjected to the Social Security Tax.
Any income above that amount will not be subject to the tax.

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