Human Resources Abbreviations
86 abbreviations · part of Business & Finance Abbreviations
Abbreviations from human resources, recruiting, payroll, benefits, leave, labor relations and employee development, as they appear in job ads, offer letters, benefits guides, pay stubs and HR software. US employment laws such as FMLA, FLSA and COBRA are summarized with their main eligibility rules, and common UK, Canadian and Indian terms are included. Employment law differs by state and country and changes often, so confirm specific requirements with the relevant agency or an employment lawyer.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AA | Affirmative action | Policies requiring employers, especially government contractors, to take active steps to recruit and advance groups that have faced discrimination, such as setting… |
| ALE | Applicable large employer | Under the Affordable Care Act, an employer with an average of 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, in the prior year. |
| ATS | Applicant tracking system | Recruiting software that posts job openings, collects applications, parses resumes, routes candidates through interview stages and stores hiring records for compliance. |
| BFOQ | Bona fide occupational qualification | Narrow exception in US anti-discrimination law allowing an employer to hire on the basis of sex, religion, national origin or age when that trait is reasonably… |
| BIK | Benefit in kind | Non-cash benefit that a UK employer provides to an employee, such as a company car, private medical insurance or a low-interest loan, which is taxable as income. |
| C&B | Compensation and benefits | HR specialty covering salary structures, pay grades, incentive plans, market pay surveys, health and retirement benefits and related compliance. |
| C2C | Corp-to-corp | US staffing arrangement in which an independent consultant works through their own incorporated business, which invoices the client or staffing agency directly, instead… |
| C2H | Contract-to-hire | Job arrangement in which a worker starts as a contractor, usually through a staffing agency, for a set period such as three to six months, after which the client may… |
| CBA | Collective bargaining agreement | Written contract between an employer and a union setting wages, hours, benefits, seniority rules, discipline procedures and grievance processes for the employees the… |
| CIPD | Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development | UK professional body for HR and people development, and by extension its qualifications at Levels 3, 5 and 7, which are widely requested in British and Irish HR job ads. |
| COBRA | Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act | US law of 1985 that lets employees and their families keep employer group health coverage temporarily after job loss, reduced hours, divorce or other qualifying events. |
| CPH | Cost per hire | Recruiting metric equal to total internal and external recruiting costs divided by the number of hires in a period, covering items such as agency fees, advertising… |
| CTC | Cost to company | Total annual amount an employer spends on an employee in India and some other countries, including basic salary, allowances, bonuses, employer provident fund… |
| DEI | Diversity, equity and inclusion | Workplace programs and policies aimed at building a workforce that reflects varied backgrounds, ensuring fair access to pay and promotion, and creating a culture in… |
| DOE | Depending on experience | Follows a salary or pay figure in job ads to show that the final amount will vary with the candidate's experience, as in "$55,000-$70,000 DOE." |
| DT | Double time | Overtime premium paid at twice the employee's regular rate, required by some state laws and common in union contracts for holidays, Sundays or very long shifts. |
| EAP | Employee assistance program | Confidential, employer-paid service offering short-term counseling, referrals and support for personal problems such as stress, mental health, substance use, grief… |
| EDI | Equality, diversity and inclusion | British, Canadian and Australian term for workplace and institutional policies promoting fair treatment and representation, closely corresponding to DEI in the US. |
| EE | Employee | Shorthand for employee in benefits enrollment, payroll and HR documents, most visibly in coverage tiers such as "EE only," "EE + spouse," "EE + child(ren)" and… |
| EEO | Equal employment opportunity | Legal and policy principle that hiring, pay, promotion, discipline and termination decisions must not be based on protected characteristics. |
| EEO-1 | EEO-1 Component 1 report | Annual workforce demographic report that private US employers with 100 or more employees file with the EEOC, counting employees by job category, sex and race or… |
| eNPS | Employee Net Promoter Score | Engagement measure asking employees how likely they are, on a 0 to 10 scale, to recommend their organization as a place to work. |
| EOE | Equal opportunity employer | Statement in job advertisements declaring that an employer does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin… |
| EOR | Employer of record | Service provider that becomes the legal employer of workers on a client's behalf, handling contracts, payroll, taxes and statutory benefits in countries where the… |
| ER | Employee relations | HR specialty that handles workplace conflicts, complaints, investigations, discipline, grievances and policy interpretation, aiming to keep treatment of employees… |
| ERG | Employee resource group | Voluntary, employee-led group that brings together workers who share an identity, background or interest, such as women in engineering, veterans, parents or LGBTQ+… |
| ESPP | Employee stock purchase plan | Plan that lets employees buy company stock through payroll deductions, usually at a discount of up to 15%, at the end of an offering period. |
| EVP | Employee value proposition | Package of pay, benefits, career growth, culture, purpose and flexibility that an employer offers in exchange for employees' skills and effort, articulated to attract… |
| EX | Employee experience | Sum of what employees encounter at work, from recruiting and onboarding through daily tools, culture, management, development and exit. |
| FLSA | Fair Labor Standards Act | Law of 1938 that sets the federal minimum wage, requires overtime pay of one and a half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek for nonexempt employees… |
| FMLA | Family and Medical Leave Act | Law of 1993 that gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year for their own serious health condition, the birth or adoption of a child… |
| FT | Full-time | End of a match after regulation time plus stoppage time, used in results listings to mark a final score. "FT: 2-1" means the game finished 2-1 within 90 minutes. |
| FTE | Full-time equivalent | Unit expressing workload in terms of full-time employees: 1.0 FTE is one person working a full schedule, often 40 hours a week or 2,080 hours a year, and two half-time… |
| HC | Headcount | Number of people employed by an organization or team, regardless of hours worked, and by extension an approved position in a budget, as in "we got two more HC." HR and… |
| HCM | Human capital management | Approach that treats employees as assets whose skills and engagement can be measured and invested in, and also the name of the software category that bundles HR… |
| HiPo | High-potential employee | Employee identified as having the capability and drive to advance to significantly larger roles, often placed in accelerated development programs, stretch assignments… |
| HR | Human resources | Business function responsible for recruiting, pay and benefits, onboarding, training, performance management, employee relations and compliance with employment law. |
| HRBP | Human resources business partner | Senior HR professional assigned to a specific business unit or leadership team, advising managers on organization design, talent, performance and employee relations… |
| HRIS | Human resources information system | Software that stores employee records and supports core HR processes such as payroll, benefits administration, time off, org charts and compliance reporting. |
| HRM | Human resource management | Strategic and operational management of an organization's workforce, covering workforce planning, recruitment, compensation, performance, development and employment… |
| I-9 | Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) | US Citizenship and Immigration Services form every US employer must complete for each new hire to verify identity and authorization to work, regardless of citizenship. |
| IC | Individual contributor | Employee who does specialized work without managing other people, such as a software engineer, designer or analyst. |
| IDP | Individual development plan | Document, agreed between an employee and manager, setting career goals and the training, assignments and mentoring needed to reach them over the coming year. |
| ISO | Incentive stock option | Employee stock option that can qualify for favorable tax treatment under section 422: no regular income tax is due at exercise, and if shares are held long enough the… |
| JD | Job description | Document describing a position's purpose, duties, qualifications, reporting line and working conditions, used for job postings, pay grading and performance expectations. |
| KSA | Knowledge, skills and abilities | Set of qualifications a job requires, used to write job descriptions, design interviews and evaluate candidates. |
| L&D | Learning and development | Function that plans and delivers employee training, onboarding programs, leadership development, compliance courses and career development. |
| LMS | Learning management system | Software that hosts, delivers and tracks training, from compliance courses and onboarding modules to certifications, and reports completion data to managers and auditors. |
| LOA | Leave of absence | Approved extended period away from work while remaining employed, for reasons such as medical treatment, family care, military service, education or personal matters. |
| LTI | Long-term incentive | Compensation paid out over several years, usually as stock options, restricted stock units or performance shares, designed to tie executives and key employees to… |
| MSP | Managed service provider | A company that remotely manages a client's IT infrastructure, cloud accounts, devices, security and help desk under an ongoing contract, usually for a monthly fee. |
| NCNS | No call, no show | Absence in which an employee neither reports for a scheduled shift nor notifies the employer in advance. |
| NSO | Nonqualified stock option | Stock option that does not meet the requirements for incentive stock option treatment, so the spread between market value and exercise price is taxed as ordinary income… |
| OD | Organization development | Discipline that uses behavioral science to improve how an organization works, through planned change in structure, culture, teamwork, leadership and processes. |
| OE | Open enrollment | Annual window when employees can enroll in, change or drop benefits such as health, dental, vision, FSA and life insurance for the coming plan year. |
| OT | Overtime | Extra period played when a game is tied at the end of regulation. |
| OTE | On-target earnings | Expected total annual pay for a sales role if the employee meets 100% of quota, combining base salary and variable commission or bonus. |
| PEO | Professional employer organization | Company that enters a co-employment relationship with small and midsize businesses, taking over payroll, tax filing, benefits and workers' compensation while the client… |
| PFL | Paid family leave | Leave from work with partial wage replacement to bond with a new child or care for a seriously ill family member, provided in the US through state insurance programs… |
| PHR | Professional in Human Resources | HR certification from the HR Certification Institute (HRCI) focused on the technical and operational aspects of HR management and US employment law. |
| PIP | Performance improvement plan | Formal written plan given to an employee whose performance falls short, listing specific problems, measurable goals, support offered and a deadline, commonly 30, 60 or… |
| PT | Part-time | Indicates a part-time position in job ads, usually fewer than 30 to 35 hours a week, often with flexible or limited schedules. |
| PTO | Paid time off | Leave for which an employee continues to be paid, often a single bank of days that combines vacation, personal and sick time, accrued per pay period or granted up front… |
| QLE | Qualifying life event | Change in circumstances, such as marriage, divorce, birth or adoption, death of a family member, a move or loss of other coverage, that allows someone to change health… |
| req | Requisition | Approved request to fill a position, created by a hiring manager and authorized by finance or HR, which then becomes a tracked job opening in the applicant tracking… |
| RIF | Reduction in force | Elimination of positions to cut costs or restructure, in which the jobs themselves are abolished rather than employees being dismissed for performance. |
| RPO | Recruitment process outsourcing | Arrangement in which an employer transfers all or part of its recruiting to an outside provider that acts as an extension of its in-house team, using the employer's… |
| RSU | Restricted stock unit | Promise by an employer to deliver company shares, or their cash value, once vesting conditions are met, typically on a schedule such as four years with a one-year cliff. |
| RTO | Return to office | Employer policy requiring employees who worked remotely, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, to come back to the workplace for a set number of days per week or full… |
| RTW | Return to work | Process and programs for bringing an employee back after illness, injury or extended leave, often with medical clearance, modified duties, reduced hours or… |
| SHRM-CP | SHRM Certified Professional | HR certification from the Society for Human Resource Management for practitioners in operational roles, based on an exam covering HR knowledge and behavioral… |
| SHRM-SCP | SHRM Senior Certified Professional | Senior-level SHRM certification for HR professionals in strategic roles, such as setting policy and leading HR functions, with exam questions focused on judgment and… |
| SMP | Statutory Maternity Pay | UK payment to eligible employees on maternity leave for up to 39 weeks: 90% of average weekly earnings for the first six weeks, then a flat weekly rate or 90% of… |
| SPD | Summary plan description | Plain-language document that ERISA requires employer benefit plans to give participants, explaining coverage, how benefits work, eligibility, claims and appeals… |
| SPHR | Senior Professional in Human Resources | HRCI's senior certification for HR leaders responsible for strategy, policy and the HR function's impact on the organization. |
| SSP | Statutory Sick Pay | Minimum amount UK employers must pay employees who are too ill to work, for up to 28 weeks. |
| STI | Short-term incentive | Annual or more frequent bonus tied to company, team or individual performance over a year or less, typically expressed as a target percentage of base salary. |
| TA | Talent acquisition | Function that finds, attracts and hires employees, covering workforce planning, employer branding, sourcing, recruiting, interviewing and offer management. |
| TC | Total compensation | Full annual value of an employee's pay package, usually base salary plus target bonus plus the annualized value of equity grants such as RSUs. |
| TOIL | Time off in lieu | Paid time off granted instead of overtime pay for extra hours worked, common in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the public sector. |
| TTF | Time to fill | Recruiting metric counting the days from when a job requisition is approved or opened until a candidate accepts the offer, used to plan hiring capacity and spot… |
| TUPE | Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations | UK rules that automatically move employees, with their existing contracts, service and terms, to a new employer when a business is sold or a service is outsourced or… |
| UI | Unemployment insurance | Joint federal-state program that pays temporary weekly benefits to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. |
| ULP | Unfair labor practice | Action by an employer or a union that violates the National Labor Relations Act, such as threatening employees for union activity, firing organizers, refusing to… |
| VMS | Vendor management system | Software used to procure and manage contingent labor, such as temporary workers, independent contractors and statement-of-work services, covering requisitions, supplier… |
| WARN | Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act | US law of 1988 requiring employers with 100 or more full-time employees to give 60 calendar days' written notice before a plant closing or mass layoff, so workers can… |
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