Glossary of HR Terms – Terms You Need to Know in 2025

Glossary of HR Terms

Employee engagement
A conceptual idea of ​​whether employees are interested in their work beyond simply being paid for it. Low engagement can have an impact on employee work performance.

Employee performance
Whether an employee does his job well or not. The measurements associated with this concept will differ depending on the field.

Employment law: Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO/EEOC), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Legal requirements regarding talent management processes. This law prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified applicants based on protected characteristics such as race, sex, and disability.

Exit the interview
The interview your HR manager might have with you when you leave your job. This is usually to see what they might do to improve the workplace.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
A set of legal requirements indicating standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, record-keeping, and youth employment. This ensures everyone is paid correctly and not overworked.

Full time/part time
Work that meets certain standards for one work week, most often 40 hours per week for full-time and 20 hours per week for part-time. This determination may affect the benefits you are entitled to.

Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
Calculations to determine how many hours of full-time work per week an employee performs. It helps organizations understand profits and comply with certain legal standards.

Human Resource Management (HCM)
The process of placing the right people and optimizing productivity. This is one of the most common management elements.

Human Resources Information System (HRIS)/ Human Resources Management System (HRM)
A type of software that helps entrepreneurs manage human resource elements.

job description A description of the requirements and expectations for a particular job. Employers can write descriptions for job openings; Job seekers can write resume job descriptions to explain previous jobs.

Minimum wage
The least amount of money a company is allowed to pay you per hour or day in a given state or country.

Violation
Any situation where someone does not behave as they should. More serious problems may be referred to as “serious violations”.

New employees/new employees
Someone who is new to the organization.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
A United States regulatory agency concerned with workplace safety. It publishes safety regulations that must be adhered to in the workplace.

Orientation
Training and development process for new employees.

Performance management
HR processes that ensure organizational initiatives are met.

Performance review/Performance appraisal
A process in which managers ensure that your performance meets requirements. They may also give you suggestions for improving yourself.

Storage
The number of individuals living in a company. This can be discussed as employee retention, which refers to employees who are not looking for new work, or customer retention, which refers to customers who return to the company after making a purchase.

Risk management
The process of ensuring that an organization does not take more risk than is necessary to function as a business.

Sick leave
Time given to employees to stay home due to illness. Separate from other types of paid leave.

Small business
A business that is not one of the largest businesses in its industry. This usually relates to the number of employees the business has and the amount of money the business makes.

Succession planning
A process of identifying the most important leadership roles in a company, then ensuring you have a plan for someone to move into those roles if the positions ultimately become vacant.

Work environment
The place where you work. This may be an office building, a room in your home, a construction area, or somewhere else.

Workers’ compensation
U.S. Department of Labor program for people injured at work or affected by an occupational disease.

Working conditions
The physical and mental condition of your work environment. OSHA regulates working conditions to ensure safety.