- At-will employment
- An employment relationship that either party may end at any time for any lawful reason, with or without notice, absent a contract.
- Title VII
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 provision barring employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (employers with 15+ employees).
- EEOC
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — the federal agency that enforces anti-discrimination employment laws.
- ADA
- The Americans with Disabilities Act — prohibits disability discrimination and requires reasonable accommodation; covers employers with 15+ employees.
- ADEA
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act — protects workers age 40 and older; applies to employers with 20+ employees.
- FMLA
- The Family and Medical Leave Act — up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for eligible employees of employers with 50+ employees.
- FMLA eligibility
- An employee must have worked for the employer 1,250 hours over the prior 12 months, at a worksite with 50+ employees within 75 miles.
- FLSA
- The Fair Labor Standards Act — sets minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and child-labor standards.
- Overtime (FLSA)
- Premium pay of 1.5 times the regular rate that non-exempt employees must receive for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
- Equal Pay Act
- A 1963 law requiring equal pay for men and women doing substantially equal work in the same workplace; applies to virtually all employers.
- GINA
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act — bars using genetic information in employment decisions (employers with 15+ employees).
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- An amendment to Title VII prohibiting discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
- Reasonable accommodation
- A change to a job or workplace that lets a qualified person with a disability (or a religious practice) perform the job, unless it causes undue hardship.
- Undue hardship
- Significant difficulty or expense that excuses an employer from providing an otherwise-required accommodation.
- Qualified individual with a disability
- A person who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job they hold or seek.
- Direct threat (ADA)
- A significant risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of the individual or others that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation.
- Bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)
- A narrow exception allowing an employer to hire based on sex, religion, or national origin when it is reasonably necessary to the business.
- Disparate treatment
- Intentional discrimination — treating someone differently because of a protected characteristic.
- Disparate impact
- A neutral policy that unintentionally harms a protected group more than others and is not job-related and necessary.
- EEOC charge deadline
- Generally 180 days from the alleged discriminatory act, extended to 300 days where a state or local fair-employment agency applies.
- Conciliation
- The EEOC's required attempt to resolve a charge voluntarily with the employer after finding reasonable cause, before any lawsuit.
- EEO-1 report
- An annual workforce-demographic report (by job category, sex, race, ethnicity) that certain larger employers and federal contractors must file with the EEOC.
- Affirmative action plan
- A program, often required of federal contractors, to proactively recruit and advance members of underrepresented groups.
- NLRA
- The National Labor Relations Act — protects most private-sector employees' rights to organize and bargain collectively (excludes supervisors and managers).
- Weingarten rights
- A unionized employee's right to request a union representative at an investigatory interview the employee reasonably believes could lead to discipline.
- Right-to-work law
- A state law that prohibits requiring union membership or dues as a condition of employment.
- Collective bargaining agreement
- A contract between an employer and a union setting wages, hours, and working conditions.
- Lockout
- An employer tactic of temporarily withholding work from bargaining-unit employees to gain leverage — the mirror image of a strike.
- Grievance arbitration
- A binding final step in many union contracts where a neutral arbitrator hears a dispute over the contract and issues a decision.
- OSHA
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration — enforces workplace safety standards.
- OSHA General Duty Clause
- Requires employers to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm, even without a specific standard.
- OSHA 300 log
- The record employers use to log work-related injuries and illnesses.
- WARN Act
- The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — requires 60 days' advance notice of a qualifying plant closing or mass layoff (employers with 100+ employees).
- WARN unforeseeable-circumstances exception
- Allows shortened notice when a sudden, unexpected event causes the layoff; the employer must still give as much notice as practicable.
- COBRA
- A law letting employees and dependents continue group health coverage for a limited period after a qualifying event (generally up to 18 months).
- COBRA 36-month events
- Events such as divorce, death of the covered employee, or a dependent aging out can extend continuation coverage up to 36 months.
- ERISA
- The Employee Retirement Income Security Act — sets standards for private retirement and welfare plans, including a full and fair claims-review right.
- HIPAA Privacy Rule
- Gives individuals rights over their protected health information and limits its use and disclosure; lets individuals access their records.
- HIPAA Security Rule
- Sets administrative, physical, and technical safeguards specifically for electronic protected health information.
- USERRA
- Protects the reemployment rights and benefits of employees who leave a civilian job to perform military service.
- IRCA / Form I-9
- The Immigration Reform and Control Act requires employers to verify a new hire's identity and work authorization using Form I-9.
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act
- Protects whistleblowers and imposes recordkeeping and financial-controls duties on covered (public) companies.
- ACA full-time threshold
- Under the Affordable Care Act employer mandate, a full-time employee averages at least 30 hours of service per week.
- Disaster recovery plan
- A plan focused on restoring IT systems and data after a disruption.
- Business continuity plan
- A plan to keep an organization's overall operations functioning during and after a disruption.
- Emergency action plan
- A documented set of procedures employees follow during a fire, evacuation, or other emergency.
- Workers' compensation
- A mandatory, no-fault insurance program covering medical costs and lost wages for work-related injuries and illnesses.
- Employee vs. independent contractor
- Classification turns on the economic reality of the relationship — control and economic dependence — not the job title or label.
- Retaliation
- An adverse action taken against an employee for engaging in a legally protected activity; the most frequently filed EEOC charge.
- Whistleblower protection
- Legal protection from retaliation for an employee who reports illegal or unsafe conduct to authorities.
- Progressive discipline
- A graduated, corrective approach to misconduct: verbal warning, written warning, suspension, then termination.
- Verbal warning
- An informal, documented conversation pointing out an issue and the expected correction — the first progressive-discipline step.
- Written warning
- A formal notice recording the problem, the standard, and the consequence of repeating it, creating a documented record.
- Organizational culture
- The shared values, beliefs, and norms that shape how employees behave and interact.
- Espoused vs. enacted values
- Espoused values are what leaders say the organization stands for; enacted values are what is actually rewarded — a gap erodes trust.
- Employee engagement
- An employee's emotional commitment to and involvement in their work and organization, driving discretionary effort.
- Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
- A metric of how likely employees are to recommend the organization as a place to work.
- Engagement survey
- A structured survey that measures employees' attitudes about leadership, work, and the organization so HR can act on the results.
- Closing the feedback loop
- Sharing survey results openly and acting on them, which builds trust and signals that employee input is valued.
- Stay interview
- A conversation with a valued, currently employed staff member, held before any intent to leave, to learn what keeps them.
- Exit interview
- A conversation with a departing employee to understand why they are leaving and surface fixable drivers of turnover.
- Turnover
- The rate at which employees leave an organization and must be replaced.
- Cost of turnover
- The full cost of a departure, including recruiting, lost productivity, and onboarding the replacement.
- Grievance
- A formal written complaint alleging that a policy, contract, or standard of fair treatment was violated.
- Mediation
- A voluntary process in which a neutral third party helps disputing parties craft their own mutually acceptable solution.
- Conflict-resolution styles
- Common approaches — avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromising, and collaborating — matched to the situation.
- Performance appraisal
- A formal evaluation of an employee's performance against expectations over a period.
- Essay appraisal method
- A narrative method in which the manager writes a few paragraphs describing the employee's performance.
- Forced distribution (forced ranking)
- An appraisal method that sorts employees into fixed categories, such as top, middle, and bottom performers.
- Halo / horns effect
- A rater error in which one strong (or weak) trait colors all other ratings of the employee.
- Contrast / similar-to-me bias
- Rating an employee based on comparison to others, or to the rater, rather than on the employee's actual performance.
- Recency error
- A rater error in which the most recent events outweigh performance across the whole review period.
- Central tendency error
- A rater error in which everyone is rated near the middle of the scale to avoid extremes.
- Continuous feedback
- Frequent, specific feedback that lets employees adjust in real time and reduces surprises at the formal review.
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
- Efforts to build a representative, fair, and welcoming workplace; most effective with accountable leadership and measurable indicators.
- Non-retaliation policy
- A policy with confidential reporting channels and prompt follow-up that encourages employees to report concerns without fear.
- Offboarding
- Managing a smooth, compliant separation of a departing employee — exit interview, asset recovery, and final pay.
- Job analysis
- The systematic process of gathering information about a job's duties, responsibilities, and required knowledge, skills, and abilities.
- Job description
- A document, produced from a job analysis, listing a position's duties, responsibilities, and required qualifications.
- Essential functions
- The fundamental duties of a job — central to the ADA, because reasonable accommodation must enable a qualified person to perform them.
- Marginal functions
- Job duties that are peripheral rather than fundamental to the position.
- Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)
- The specific competencies a job requires; KSAs bridge the job analysis to selection criteria and training design.
- Workforce forecasting
- Estimating future staffing needs based on demand, growth, and turnover so hiring can be planned.
- Employer branding
- Shaping an organization's reputation as a desirable place to work in order to attract and retain talent.
- Candidate pipeline
- An ongoing pool of qualified, interested potential candidates maintained for current and future openings.
- Employee referral program
- Sourcing in which current employees recommend candidates; tends to produce strong cultural fit and a shorter time-to-fill.
- Structured interview
- An interview asking every candidate the same job-related questions, scored on a consistent rubric, improving fairness and comparability.
- Behavioral interview
- An interview that asks candidates to describe how they handled past situations, on the theory that past behavior predicts future behavior.
- Reference check
- Contacting a candidate's prior employers or contacts to verify performance and confirm the candidate's information.
- Background check
- Verification of a candidate's history, typically conducted after a conditional offer of employment.
- Conditional offer
- A job offer contingent on conditions such as passing a background check or drug screen.
- Offer letter
- A document stating the position, start date, pay, and key terms of a job offer; usually at-will, not a binding contract.
- Employment contract
- A legally binding agreement that may set a fixed term and specific conditions, distinct from an at-will offer letter.
- Counteroffer
- Increased pay or a promotion a current employer offers to retain an employee who has resigned.
- Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
- A document in which an employee promises not to share an employer's confidential information.
- Onboarding
- Integrating and preparing a new hire — orientation, paperwork (I-9), policy acknowledgments, and early support.
- New-employee orientation
- A new hire's first-day welcome: required paperwork, introductions, and a tour — the start of onboarding.
- Applicant tracking system (ATS)
- Software that collects, organizes, and tracks job applications and candidates through the hiring funnel.
- Time-to-fill
- A recruiting metric: the number of days from when a requisition is approved to when an offer is accepted.
- Cost-per-hire
- A recruiting metric: total recruiting cost (advertising, agency fees, referral bonuses) divided by the number of hires.
- Recruiting funnel
- The stages from applied to screened to interviewed to offered to hired, used to find where candidates drop off.
- Realistic job preview
- Giving candidates an honest picture of a role's duties and challenges to improve fit and reduce early turnover.
- Total rewards
- Everything of value an employer provides for work: direct pay, indirect benefits, and statutory (mandated) benefits.
- Direct compensation
- Cash an employee earns — base wage or salary, overtime, bonuses, commissions, and incentive pay.
- Indirect compensation
- Non-cash benefits an employer provides, such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.
- Exempt employee
- An employee not entitled to overtime under the FLSA — typically a salaried executive, administrative, or professional role meeting salary and duties tests.
- Non-exempt employee
- An employee entitled to at least minimum wage and overtime (1.5x the regular rate over 40 hours per week) under the FLSA.
- Salary vs. duties test
- FLSA exemption requires meeting both a minimum salary level and a duties test; the job title alone never decides it.
- Blended (weighted-average) rate
- When an employee works two pay rates in one week, FLSA overtime is figured on the weighted average of those rates.
- Compensatory time
- Paid time off in lieu of cash overtime, generally available only to public-sector employers under specific conditions.
- Minimum wage
- The lowest hourly pay the FLSA (or a higher state law) allows an employer to pay covered, non-exempt employees.
- Pay structure
- The framework of pay grades and ranges that an organization uses to set and manage compensation.
- Job evaluation
- A systematic process for setting the relative internal worth of jobs to build internal pay equity.
- Pay survey
- Market data on what other employers pay similar roles, used to keep compensation externally competitive.
- Comparable worth
- The concept that jobs of comparable value to the organization should be paid comparably, even if the work differs.
- Merit pay
- An increase to base pay based on an individual's performance.
- Incentive pay
- Variable pay tied to performance, output, or goals — bonuses, commissions, or profit-sharing.
- FICA
- Federal Insurance Contributions Act payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare.
- Mandated benefits
- Benefits required by law: Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation.
- 401(k) plan
- A defined-contribution retirement plan that lets employees defer pay, often with an employer match.
- Defined benefit vs. defined contribution
- Defined benefit promises a set pension; defined contribution (like a 401(k)) depends on contributions and investment returns.
- Summary plan description
- An ERISA-required document explaining a benefit plan's features and a participant's rights in plain language.
- Summary of benefits and coverage
- An ACA-required, standardized, plain-language document letting enrollees compare health-plan coverage and costs.
- Paid time off (PTO)
- A voluntary benefit combining vacation, sick, and personal leave into a single bank of paid days.
- Training needs analysis
- Comparing current employee capabilities against job requirements to identify the performance or skills gap training should close.
- Performance / skills gap
- The difference between what employees can currently do and what the job requires — the target of training.
- ADDIE model
- An instructional-design framework: Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate.
- ADDIE — Analyze
- The phase that identifies the audience, the performance gap, and the learning objectives.
- ADDIE — Design
- The phase that sets learning objectives, chooses the instructional strategy, and sequences the content.
- ADDIE — Evaluate
- The phase that measures learner reactions, learning, and results, then feeds back into the cycle.
- Kirkpatrick's four levels
- A model for evaluating training by reaction, learning, behavior, and results.
- Learning objective
- A clear statement of what a learner should know or be able to do after training.
- Sequencing (simple to complex)
- Organizing content so learners build basic concepts before tackling harder material.
- Practice and feedback
- Built-in opportunities to apply material and receive feedback, which improve retention and transfer to the job.
- Learning management system (LMS)
- A platform that delivers online courses and records and reports each employee's training completions and due dates.
- On-the-job training (OJT)
- Training at the workstation, where an experienced worker guides a new employee through real tasks.
- Instructor-led training (ILT)
- Training delivered live by an instructor, in person or virtually, suited to complex topics needing discussion.
- Virtual instructor-led training
- A live training session delivered online, reaching dispersed employees quickly and consistently.
- e-learning
- Self-paced online training that is flexible, scalable, and trackable in an LMS.
- Blended learning
- A training approach combining self-paced online modules with live, instructor-led sessions.
- Mentoring
- Pairing a tenured employee with a newer colleague to share knowledge and guidance over time.
- Coaching
- One-on-one guidance focused on improving a specific skill or performance area.
- Adult learning (andragogy)
- Principles that adults learn best when training is relevant, problem-centered, and respects their experience.
- Career pathing
- Mapping development and advancement opportunities so employees can grow within the organization.
- Succession planning
- Identifying and developing internal talent to fill key roles when they become vacant.
