A-Z HR Glossary
A
Absence trigger points: These are defined thresholds that, when reached, trigger a review of an employee’s absence record by management. These are usually defined within an employer’s sickness policy.
ACAS Code of Practice: Offers a framework that sets out the minimum standard of fairness an employer should follow. There are several ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service) Codes of Practice that cover various aspects of employment law. Employment Tribunals are legally required to take account of Codes when hearing a case, and for certain Codes of Practice may adjust any awards made by up to 25% where there has been unreasonable failure.
Access to Medical Reports Act 1988: This Act protects employees and operates alongside the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. It ensures employees aren’t the last individuals to discover what a doctor has told an employer or insurer. It also grants employees the right to see their medical reports prepared about them.
Agency Worker Regulations 2010 (AWR): This Act ensures temporary agency workers receive equal treatment and entitled to the same basic working and employment conditions as a direct hire with the same organisation. This is after a 12-week qualifying period.
Annual Leave (Statutory): This is the legally mandated minimum amount of paid time off an employer must give their employees (for the purposes of health, safety, and well-being). Under the WTR (Working Time Regulations) in the UK, all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday each year.
Applicant Tracking System (ATS): A recruitment tactic using HR technology, this software automates the hiring process. It serves as a digital application accessor, helping to find suitable candidates to streamline internal processes.
Apprenticeship Agreement: The mandatory legal contract between an employer and an apprentice during training to ensure they work toward a qualification. Apprenticeships are regulated under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.
Audit Trail (HRIS): Related to industry compliance standards and GDPR (data protection). An audit trail is a chronological, unalterable record to track actions across a system with the purpose of maintaining data security. This demonstrates how sensitive employee data has been handled on a long-term basis.
B
Behavioural competency: Determines how well an employee performs their job, based on how they undertake their duties. The emphasis is on soft skill competencies such as communication, teamwork, culture fit, problem-solving, performance, and attitude.
Blended learning: A hybrid approach to learning that incorporates several methods such as e-learning, classroom-based teaching methods, even shadowing. Opportunities for staff training through an LMS (learning management system) can be completed online and face-to-face.
Bradford Factor: This is an HR tool that calculates employee absence. Some businesses use this process, with analytics to manage absenteeism, as part of their company policy toward frequent, short term, intermittent sickness.
Breach of Contract (Employment): This is when an employer or employee doesn’t uphold specific terms in their contracts. If a violation is severe, it’s classified as a repudiatory breach, for employees, this may result in dismissal. For employers, the result may be employment tribunals.
C
Candidate experience: The perception a job candidate has after the hiring process of an employer’s brand. A positive hiring experience will include clear communication, respect, and transparency. A negative one will include poor communication and limited transparency. Positive experiences help to improve brand reputation, encourage top talent applications, and improve retention rates.
Candidate Relationship Management (CRM): A CRM offers a talent pipeline for sourcing and managing long-term relationships with employees (past, present, and future). With a CRM a business can attract and engage professionals, nurturing them through a hiring process.
Car Allowance: Employers can distribute a fixed sum of payroll to an employee as part of a benefits package to fund a private vehicle. This is specifically for business mobility and gives the employee the freedom to choose their own vehicle.
Career Pathing: A development process where an employer maps out a professional mobility trajectory for an employee. This helps to align a staff member’s career with a business’s future talent needs, as well as improving staff retention rates.
Case Management (HR): A HR process involving tracking and resolving employee relations issues. This casework may include disciplinary actions, grievances, or performance management.
Collective Bargaining: A formal consultation between employers and trade unions representing employees. The bargaining process, and outcome, of collective bargaining is to determine employment terms and conditions.
Collective Consultation (Redundancy): A mandatory UK legal consultation for employers proposing to make 20 or more employees redundant within a 90-day period. For HR compliance, the employer must then speak to trade unions to discuss ways to control the impact of redundancy.
Cost per Hire (CPH): One of the leading recruitment metrics to keep hiring costs down. CPH is calculated by adding internal and external costs, then dividing this by the total number of hires. This process helps with the efficiency of the recruitment process.
CPD (Continuing Professional Development): The HR process of documenting and tracking the professional gains employees make while working. This includes areas such as experience, knowledge, and skills. By tracking these, you can ensure staff keep their skillset up to industry standard, or look for professional bodies to target new learning opportunities.
D
Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA): Outlines the findings of an assessment into personal information management. A DPIA helps a business to comply with UK regulations, mitigate potential data breaches, and meet GDPR privacy expectations.
DBS check: Professional background checks as completed by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Such a check is a way of safeguarding your business and employees, with a compliance-based approach that assesses criminal records for workplace suitability.
Dignity at Work Policy: A formal policy outlining a business’ commitment to creating a positive company culture free from bullying, harassment, and victimisation. This businesses create a productive workplace and helps with compliance across UK employment laws.
Disciplinary Procedure: ACAS defines this as a company policy that addresses employee misconduct. A procedure is a formal framework to manage conduct issues such, which protects a business from potential breach of employment laws.
Dismissal (Fair vs Unfair): Dismissal is the termination of an employee’s contract, but the employer must do this legally. Dismissals must be legally fair, and applies to dismissals that are on the grounds of conduct, capability, redundancy, some other substantial reason, statutory restriction/illegality. An unfair dismissal is either when is is not for one of these statutory five reasons, and/or the process followed was unfair. An unfair dismissal risks an employment tribunal claim.
Diversity Ratio: A quantitative set of metrics that measure diversity in a business when compared to the total number of employees. It is a vital metric for DEI (diversity, equality and inclusion) initiatives and to ensure a wide talent pool across an organisation.
DPA 2018 (Data Protection Act): The primary legislation in the UK for processing and storing personal data. Alongside UK GDPR, it ensures business accountability, transparency, and data protection for employees and customers.
E
Employee Lifetime Value (ELTV): The net value a member of staff brings to a business during their time working there (from hire to resignation). This ROI metric measures their financial and strategic value, providing a long-term view of employee productivity and impact.
Employee handbook: A new starter onboarding tactic. With an official handbook, you can summarise company policies in one document so new members of staff can quickly understand procedures and workplace expectations.
Employer Value Proposition (EVP): The unique set of benefits, rewards, and values an employer provides to all employees. This may include career development opportunities, work-life balance initiatives, and company discounts. This strategy can improve your employer brand, attract top talent, and promote staff retention after onboarding.
Employment Contract: A legally binding contract between an employer and an employee. This document outlines the member of staff’s terms for after onboarding, covers business compliance needs, and details job responsibilities.
Employment Tribunal (ET): An independent judicial body that adjudicates over employment litigation disputes between employers and employees. A tribunal relates to the likes of unfair dismissal, discrimination, wage disputes etc. As a major HR risk, it is vital to ensure business compliance with UK employment laws to limit the risk of tribunals.
Engagement Survey: A strategic HR assessment survey on employee engagement across the business. Businesses use this tactic to measure staff commitment, motivation, and investment in their specific roles.
Executive Search: A specialised recruitment service designed for headhunting leadership candidates with highly qualified skills. The search is for senior-level roles within an organisation, such as CEOs, CFOs, or board members.
F
Family-friendly rights: Eligibility-based leave that supports families and includes adoption leave, carer’s leave, maternity leave, neonatal leave, parental leave, parental bereavement leave, paternity leave, shared parental leave, time off for dependants and redundancy protection (during pregnancy and maternity/adoption leave, and on return to work following maternity/adoption leave). Also supported are flexible working requests.
Flexible working request: Where an employee makes a formal request, in writing, to the employer for a change in working hours, patterns, or locations. This may be for hybrid work or flexible working start times. Employees have the right to make two requests within any 12-month period.
G
UK GDPR: The General Data Protection Regulation is the legal framework for businesses collecting, storing, and processing personal data in the UK. It dictates how employee and customer information must be handled in an accountable, secure, and transparent way.
Goals Cascade: A strategic KPI alignment process for high-level business objectives, which are turned into actionable, specific targets for internal departments. The goal of this approach is to create a sense of accountability and business transparency.
Grade Structure/Pay Bands: A hierarchical grading framework businesses can use to categorise jobs based on their complexity, level of responsibility, and value. This tactic can help HR to understand salary bands for correct compensation and transparency across career progression.
Grievance Procedure: A process employers must use when employees raise concerns, complaints, or disputes. This is to handle issues with their treatment, terms of employment, or working environment. The process must follow a consistent, fair, and transparent approach.
H
Headcount: The total number of employees on a workforce payroll. This includes part-time workers. HR can use these metrics for reporting across recruitment, turnover rates, and consider a snapshot of budgeting needs.
Hiring Manager Brief: A foundational document or meeting to begin a recruitment process. Specifically, one aligning with a hiring manager’s needs, rather than through a traditional job description. This process benchmarks role design needs early in the recruitment process through detailed information intake.
HR Shared Services (HRSS): A centralised service delivery model where common administrative HR tasks (payroll, benefits, onboarding, data management) are consolidated. This places them in a single unit to avoid repetitive processes. The goal of HRSS is to improve operational efficiency.
Human Capital ROI: A critical business finance metric to measure the efficiency of workforce investments. This process calculates non-labour expense metrics alongside total revenue to determine total compensation costs. This process is designed to enhance operational efficiency.
Hybrid Working: A flexible work model for employees that allows staff to work from home (WFH) alongside traditional in-office days. The goal of hybrid working is to improve work-life balance for staff members, helping them to stay engaged and productive.
Hybrid Working Policy: The formal framework for handling an employer’s approach to hybrid working. The document must define the expectations of employees, including the intended days when they’re in the office, communication standards, and remote work health and safety.
I
Interview Guide: A structured selection process HR can use to ensure consistency and fairness during candidate evaluation. This is to help limit issues during hiring such as unconscious bias, candidate validity, issues with consistency across hiring, and streamlining post-interview steps.
J
Job Analysis: A systemic process of gathering, documenting, and analysing information regarding specific roles. This is to determine duties, responsibilities, and necessary qualifications, helping HR create effective job descriptions and specifications.
Job Description: A job description (JD) is a document that outlines the duties, responsibilities, skills, and reporting structure of any given role. It’s the foundational tool for a thorough selection process regarding relevant, skilled candidates as well as a key tool in performance management.
Job Evaluation: The systematic process of grading the equity of individual roles within a business. The process is designed to focus on the requirements and responsibilities of a position by comparing jobs based on factors such as required skills, level of effort, decision-making authority, and working conditions.
Job Requisition: The formal internal document/digital request a manager can use to notify HR regarding a role vacancy for headcount efficiency. The requisition must then be vetted and approved by leadership or the finance department for budgeting needs.
K
Family-friendly rights: Eligibility-based, leave focussed rights to support families and includes maternity, paternity, parental leave, shared parental leave, and redundancy protection (during pregnancy, after childbirth, and adoption). Also supported are flexible working requests and part-time work.
Flexible working request: Where an employee makes a formal request, in writing, to the employer for a change in working hours, patterns, or locations. This may be for hybrid work or flexible working start times. New laws in April 2024 mean employees have the right to make two requests within any 12-month period.
L
Living Wage (Real Living Wage): The real living wage is a voluntary scheme employers can sign up to, which sets hourly pay rates for employees based on the actual cost of living rather than using the national minimum wage rates set by the Government (which are typically lower). The goal of the initiative is to support employees with costs regarding housing, cost-of-living, and childcare.
M
Manager Self-Service (MSS): A digital portal within an HRIS (Human Resources Information System) to help managers improve efficiency across administrative tasks. This is completed by decentralising routine processes, moving away from data entry to higher level strategic initiatives.
Maternity Leave: A period of protected absence from work (family leave) for employees. This is for before and after childbirth to ensure an employee’s role is protected during the absence.
Mentoring: A professional relationship where an experienced member of staff provides guidance, support, and feedback to an inexperienced one. The goal is to offer formal professional training to help the inexperienced employee grow within their role and form a long-term partnership with the business.
Modern Slavery Statement: A statement by a business that explains to the public how the organisation lessens the risk of modern slavery, forced labour, servitude, and human trafficking, as mandated by the Modern Slavery Act 2015. This goes beyond business compliance, it shows a business’s commitment to human rights due diligence.
N
National Insurance (UK): A mandatory system of taxes paid by employees and employers. It builds entitlement to some state benefits and the State Pension. National Insurance (NI) is managed by HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs).
National Minimum Wage (NLW): The statutory minimum hourly rate UK employers must pay employees/workers. All businesses must ensure compliance with NLW to avoid non-compliance legal penalties and damage to reputation.
Notice Period: The designated amount of notice an employer or employee must provide when ending the contract of employment.
O
Offer Acceptance Rate (OAR): The metric to determine the percentage of job offers that have a conversion (acceptance). Using OAR helps businesses understand the effectiveness of a recruitment funnel.
Offer Management: A strategic screening phase in a recruitment process where a finalist is selected and onboarded. The process ensures effective offers including drafting, delivery, and negotiation of an employment contract across base salary, equity, benefits, and start dates.
On-Call Allowance: A form of compensation to employees who remain available to work outside of regular scheduled work. This payroll allowance recognises the restriction on the employee’s personal time, with the rate established as a flat daily/weekly fee.
Organisational Chart (Org Chart): This visual diagram outlines internal structures of a business. It’s a planning process detailing roles, responsibilities, and relationships between employees to create a comprehensive chain of command. The chart helps all members of staff to understand organisation design and hierarchical structures.
P
Performance Capability Procedure: A management process employers use to address employee issues with performance capability. It’s a competence process to help bridge skills gaps and ensure the staff member has the training and knowledge they need to be successful in their role.
P11D: Statutory tax form employers use to report Benefits in Kind (BiK) to HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs). P11Ds are non-salary perks for directors or employees and may include company cars, interest-free loans etc. These are subject to Class 1A National Insurance contributions under company payroll.
Passive Candidate: An employee who is not actively seeking new employment, but who may be open to a career move. Employers sourcing the candidates through outreach, as part of a long-term recruitment pipeline, must attract these candidates with a proactive approach.
PAYE: A statutory method of income tax where employers deduct income tax and national insurance contributions from an employee’s wage or occupational pension. This system ensures the UK government receives tax revenue through a financial year (rather than in a lump sum).
Performance Appraisal: A systematic and periodic review process that evaluates individual job performance and productivity. This is often in relation to pre-established KPIs, and/or objectives and goals, with the appraisal carried out by a manager on a recurring basis to give feedback, identify new objectives, and discuss career goals.
Performance Distribution: The analytics method of plotting employee performance ratings to visualise how talent is spread across an organisation. Some businesses use this as governance for high performing employees, but its use may call into question fairness amongst all staff.
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP): A structured process HR uses to address an employee’s sustained underperformance. It outlines capability goals the employee must achieve within a set timeframe to remain in their role.
Policy Acknowledgement: The formal governance policy where an employee confirms they have received, read, understood, and signed a policy or employee handbook. The process serves as an essential compliance and onboarding tool for business policies.
Pre-employment Screening: Involves verifying the background, qualifications, and job suitability of a candidate before they commence work and for which the job offer is conditional upon. This screening stage may include a criminal background check or employment/education verification. This onboarding process ensures HR can be certain a candidate has a strong culture fit.
Probationary Review: This formal process is conducted throughout an employee’s probation period and ends with an end of probation review. These typically last between three and six months. The review is conducted by a manager, it’s a critical process that determines if the employee is a suitable long-term fit for the business.
Psychological Contract: Represents the unwritten beliefs, expectations, and obligations between an employer and employee. This can include an employee wanting career development, a positive workplace culture, and job security in exchange for loyalty. An employer meeting these expectations may improve staff retention.
Q
Family-friendly rights: Eligibility-based, leave focussed rights to support families and includes maternity, paternity, parental leave, shared parental leave, and redundancy protection (during pregnancy, after childbirth, and adoption). Also supported are flexible working requests and part-time work.
Flexible working request: Where an employee makes a formal request, in writing, to the employer for a change in working hours, patterns, or locations. This may be for hybrid work or flexible working start times. New laws in April 2024 mean employees have the right to make two requests within any 12-month period.
R
Recognition Programme: A rewards initiative that acknowledges and rewards employees for achievements, behaviours, and milestones. This fosters a company culture of appreciation, which may lift workforce engagement, morale, and staff retention rates.
Recruitment Funnel: Strategic framework to visualise an entire hiring process, which helps to narrow down a large pool of candidates. The process tracks the candidate experience through various steps. These include awareness, sourcing, screening, interviewing, and the final job offer. It can help to improve job offer conversions.
Redundancy: When an employer must reduce the workforce. This is often due to business closures, budget cuts, or technological advances. Redundancy is a no-fault contract termination and the selection of employees are not to blame, which means they must receive a consultation, statutory redundancy pay, and a notice period.
Reference Check: A critical screening stage in a recruitment process where an employer requests feedback from a candidate’s former employers. References are a validation tool to help HR professionals understand if a candidate is a suitable fit for the role and often, the job offer is conditional upon them being satisfactory.
Right to Work Check: This mandatory legal verification process must be conducted by employers to ensure an employee/potential employee has the legal authority to work in the UK. This is for immigration compliance with Home Office regulations. All checks must be cleared as part of the onboarding process.
S
Salary Compression: Occurs when pay equity between employees is negligible, despite significant differences between experience, skills, and seniority. This may happen if market rates for new starters rise faster than internal pay increases, which can decrease staff morale and lead to a high turnover rate.
Settlement Agreement: Legally binding document following protected conversations between an employer and employee. The process assists with employment termination, where an employee may agree to waive their right to bring up litigation claims in favour of a financial sum or other benefits.
Shared Parental Leave (SPL): Family leave offers 50 weeks of leave to eligible parents alongside 37 weeks of pay. This policy is for the first year of an adoption or birth.
Shortlist: A curated selection of candidates selected from a larger pool. This is to move the recruitment process into its final interviews stage with the most suitable applications, after which a decision will be made on who to hire.
Sick Pay (SSP/Company Sick Pay): The compensation a business offers to an employee during absence with illness or injury. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is the legal minimum an employer must pay under UK law. Company Sick Pay (Occupational Sick Pay) is a discretionary benefit offered by employees who choose to use it.
Single Sign-On (SSO): An authentication process to allow a user to access multiple, related independent software systems with a single set of credentials. This can help with password fatigue, allowing employees to quickly access various systems as they need to but with security in place.
SMART Objectives: Offer a structured appraisal framework used in performance management to ensure clear goals that are actionable and trackable. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. It sets objectives/goals that can help HR structure clear performance evaluations.
Subject Access Request (SAR): A formal privacy request made by an employee or job application for a copy of the personal data held about them. Employers must respond under UK law: GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Succession Planning Matrix: Also called a 9-Box Grid, this process is a succession strategic talent management tool. It’s used to visualise and evaluate a business’s internal talent pool based on current performance and future potential, such as readiness to move into roles with more responsibility.
T
Talent Pool: A curated database of high-potential job candidates. HR goes about sourcing this talent due to its high level of experience, skills, and cultural fit, all with the aim of filling a future pipeline of vacancies.
Time and Attendance: The timekeeping system allows a business to track employee working hours. Scheduling includes across clock-in/out times, breaks, overtime, and absence. This helps HR to monitor punctuality, manage labour costs, and ensure compliance with UK employment laws.
Time Off for Dependants: A statutory right allowing employees to take a reasonable amount of unpaid family leave to deal with unforeseen emergencies with a “dependant” (spouse, partner, child, parent etc.). This policy is designed for a short-term fix.
Time to Fill: A crucial recruitment metric to measure the total number of days required to find, and then hire, a job applicant. This process uses a holistic view of the hiring lifecycle and the efficiency of an HR department.
Time to Hire: A time intensive process that measures the number of days between a job applicant entering a recruitment process to the day they’re hired. This metric focuses specifically on the efficiency of a recruitment strategy.
Total Reward Statement (TRS): A personalised document provided to employees with a holistic view of their rewards package after the base salary. It includes highlighting benefits such as health insurance, retirement contributions, bonuses, paid time off, and professional development opportunities. A TRS can help improve employee engagement.
Turnover Rate: One of HR’s key metrics, it measures the percentage of employees who leave a business within a specific time period (often within 12 months). A high attrition rate often signals underlying issues, such as a toxic working environment, lack of competitive compensation, or poor management.
U
Unfair Dismissal: Occurs when an employer terminates an employee’s contract without a fair reason (or doesn’t follow established legal disciplinary procedures). Under the ERA 1996 (Employment Rights Act 1996), an unfair dismissal may lead to an employment tribunal claim from the affected employee.
V
Family-friendly rights: Eligibility-based, leave focussed rights to support families and includes maternity, paternity, parental leave, shared parental leave, and redundancy protection (during pregnancy, after childbirth, and adoption). Also supported are flexible working requests and part-time work.
Flexible working request: Where an employee makes a formal request, in writing, to the employer for a change in working hours, patterns, or locations. This may be for hybrid work or flexible working start times. New laws in April 2024 mean employees have the right to make two requests within any 12-month period.
W
Wellbeing Index: An analytics process used by HR to define the health and satisfaction of staff. The index aggregates data across mental health, physical vitality, financial security, and social connection. This process provides an overview of employee wellbeing at work.
Whistleblowing: Refers to an employee, or former employee, who discloses information about illegal, unethical, or unsafe business practices. The disclosure may be made internally to management or to an external regulatory body. PIDA (Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998) protects employees who come forward.
Work Sample Test: An assessment method for job applicants where they perform tasks that would mirror their daily work duties. This validity process is designed to showcase evidence they’re suitable for a role.
Workflow Automation (HR): Software designed to automate daily human resources processes. This technology is designed to improve workplace efficiency and automate many processes, such as onboarding documentation, leave requests, and payroll processing.
Workforce Planning: The strategic process of analysing current employees in a business and forecasting future labour requirements. The strategic process can help identify potential skills requirements, the talent required, and future-proof organisations.
X
Family-friendly rights: Eligibility-based, leave focussed rights to support families and includes maternity, paternity, parental leave, shared parental leave, and redundancy protection (during pregnancy, after childbirth, and adoption). Also supported are flexible working requests and part-time work.
Flexible working request: Where an employee makes a formal request, in writing, to the employer for a change in working hours, patterns, or locations. This may be for hybrid work or flexible working start times. New laws in April 2024 mean employees have the right to make two requests within any 12-month period.
Y
Family-friendly rights: Eligibility-based, leave focussed rights to support families and includes maternity, paternity, parental leave, shared parental leave, and redundancy protection (during pregnancy, after childbirth, and adoption). Also supported are flexible working requests and part-time work.
Flexible working request: Where an employee makes a formal request, in writing, to the employer for a change in working hours, patterns, or locations. This may be for hybrid work or flexible working start times. New laws in April 2024 mean employees have the right to make two requests within any 12-month period.
Z
Family-friendly rights: Eligibility-based, leave focussed rights to support families and includes maternity, paternity, parental leave, shared parental leave, and redundancy protection (during pregnancy, after childbirth, and adoption). Also supported are flexible working requests and part-time work.
Flexible working request: Where an employee makes a formal request, in writing, to the employer for a change in working hours, patterns, or locations. This may be for hybrid work or flexible working start times. New laws in April 2024 mean employees have the right to make two requests within any 12-month period.