Glossary of Terms
401(k): A retirement savings plan allowing employees to contribute a portion of their salary on a pre-tax and/or post-tax basis. Employers can match contributions up to a certain percentage.
Accrual: The recognition of expenses and revenues that have been incurred but not yet paid or received.
ACH (Automated Clearing House): An electronic network for processing credit and debit transactions, including payroll direct deposits.
After-Tax Deductions: Payroll deductions taken out of an employee’s wages after applicable payroll taxes are withheld, such as wage garnishments and Roth 401(k) contributions.
Annualized Salary: The estimated total salary an employee would earn in a year, based on their current pay rate.
Applicant Tracking System (ATS): Software that manages the recruitment process, including job postings and applications.
Back Pay: Wages an employee should have received but didn’t, including missed payments like unpaid salary, regular hours, overtime, or commissions. This is different from Retro Pay.
Base Pay: The initial rate of compensation an employee receives, excluding additional earnings like bonuses or overtime.
Benchmarking: Comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices from other companies.
Bereavement Leave: Paid or unpaid time off work granted to an employee after the death of a loved one.
Biweekly Pay: When an employer pays its employees once every two weeks.
Bonus: Additional pay an employee receives on top of their regular wages or salary, often as an incentive or reward for good performance.
Buddy Punching: When one employee has another employee to clock in or out for them.
Bumping Rights: The right of senior employees to replace less senior employees in times of layoffs.
Certified Payroll: A special payroll report required for contractors working on federally funded projects, ensuring compliance with prevailing wage laws.
Child Support Withholding: The amount an employer deducts from a noncustodial parent’s wages to satisfy a child support order from the court.
Co-employment: A situation where two or more employers share control and responsibility for an employee.
Commission: Money an employee earns upon completing a task, typically for selling a specific amount of employer goods or services.
Compensation: The total amount of monetary pay provided to an employee by an employer in return for work performed.
Compressed Workweek: A work schedule that allows employees to work a full-time job in fewer than the traditional five days (i.e. Four Day Work Weeks).
Cost-Per-Hire: The total cost of hiring a new employee, including advertising, recruiter fees, and training.
Dedicated Client Success Specialist (formally titled Dedicated Payroll Specialist): Journey Payroll & HR professional assigned to manage a company’s payroll needs.
Deferred Compensation: A portion of an employee’s income that is paid out at a later date, often used for retirement plans.
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA): A pre-tax benefit account used to pay for eligible dependent care services.
Direct Deposit: The electronic transfer of an employee’s net pay directly into their bank account.
Discretionary Bonus: A bonus given at the discretion of the employer, not based on any pre-established criteria.
Disposable Earnings: The amount of earnings left after legally required deductions, such as taxes, used to determine garnishments.
Earnings Statement: A document provided to employees detailing their gross pay, deductions, and net pay for a specific pay period.
EEO-1 Survey: A compliance survey mandated for specific employers by federal statute and regulations that requires company employment data to be categorized by race/ethnicity, gender, and job category.
Emotional Intelligence: The ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): A work-based intervention program designed to assist employees in resolving personal problems that may be adversely affecting their performance.
Employee Engagement: The emotional commitment an employee has to their organization and its goals, often resulting in higher performance.
Employee Referral Program: A program where current employees recommend potential candidates for open positions.
Employee Self-Service Portal: An online platform where employees can access their personal and payroll information, request time off, and manage benefits.
Employment at Will: A doctrine that states an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason, except an illegal one, without warning.
Equity: Fair treatment in access, opportunity, and advancement for all individuals.
Essential Job Functions: The fundamental duties of a position that an individual must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Exempt Employee: An employee who is exempt from overtime pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Exempt Position: A job that is not subject to overtime pay requirements under the FLSA.
Exit Interview: A meeting with a departing employee to discuss their reasons for leaving and their experience with the company.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): A U.S. law that establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards.
FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act): A U.S. federal payroll tax that funds Social Security and Medicare programs.
Flexible Spending Account (FSA): A special account employees can use to pay for certain out-of-pocket health care costs.
Flexible-Benefits Plan: A benefits plan that allows employees to choose from a variety of pre-tax benefits.
FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act): A U.S. federal law that provides eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.
Forecasting: The process of making predictions based on past and present data.
Full-time equivalent (FTE): Units measured to estimate the number of Full Time employees employed within a company.
Fully Insured Plan: A health plan sponsored by the employer to cover employees and their dependents.
Furlough: A temporary leave of employees due to special needs of a company or employer, which may be due to economic conditions.
Garnishment: A court order directing an employer to withhold a portion of an employee’s wages to pay off a debt.
Gender Expression: The external appearance of one’s gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut, or voice.
Gender Wage Gap: The average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working.
Gross Pay: The total amount of money earned by an employee before any deductions are taken out.
Gross-Up: Increasing an employee’s net pay to account for taxes, ensuring they receive a specific amount after taxes, referred to the net amount.
Harassment: Unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): A U.S. law designed to provide privacy standards to protect patients’ medical records and other health information.
Health Reimbursement Account (HRA): An employer-funded plan that reimburses employees for out-of-pocket medical expenses and individual health insurance premiums.
Health Savings Account (HSA): A tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP).
Hostile Work Environment: A form of workplace harassment where an employee experiences an offensive, intimidating, or oppressive atmosphere.
Human Resource Information System (HRIS): A software or online solution for data entry, data tracking, and data management of all HR operations.
Human Resource Management (HRM): The strategic approach to the effective management of people in a company or organization.
Human Resource Management System (HRMS): A suite of software applications used to manage human resources and related processes throughout the employee lifecycle.
I-9 Form: A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services form used to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States.
Independent Contractor: A person or entity contracted to perform work for—or provide services to—another entity as a non-employee.
Job Analysis: The process of studying and collecting information about the duties, responsibilities, and necessary skills of a specific job.
Job Description: A formal account of an employee’s responsibilities.
Job Evaluation: A systematic way of determining the value/worth of a job in relation to other jobs in an organization.
Job Ranking: A method of job evaluation that ranks jobs in order based on their perceived value to the organization.
Job Reference Immunity Statutes: Laws that protect employers from liability when providing truthful information about a former employee’s job performance
Journey Central: Journey Central is the proprietary software platform provided by Journey Payroll & HR. It offers an easy-to-use dashboard for account management and an integrated time clock, allowing businesses to manage payroll and HR tasks efficiently from anywhere, at any time.
Minimum Wage: The lowest hourly wage that an employer can legally pay their employees.
Net Pay: The amount of money an employee takes home after all deductions have been subtracted from the gross pay, including but not limited to, taxes.
Onboarding: The process of integrating a new employee into an organization and its culture.
Overtime Pay: Additional pay for hours worked over the standard 40-hour workweek, typically at a rate of 1.5 times the regular hourly rate.
Payroll and Human Resource Terms in Alphabetical Order:
Payroll Journal: A detailed record of all payroll transactions for a specific period, used for accounting and auditing purposes.
Payroll Register: A summary report listing all employees, their earnings, deductions, and net pay for a specific pay period.
Payroll Tax: Taxes imposed on employers and employees, usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their staff.
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP): A formal document outlining an employee’s performance issues and the steps needed to improve.
Performance Management: The continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing the performance of individuals and teams.
Pre-Tax Deductions: Deductions taken from an employee’s gross pay before taxes are calculated, such as health insurance premiums and retirement contributions.
Reimbursement: Payments made to employees to cover expenses incurred on behalf of the employer, such as travel or supplies.
Salary: A fixed regular payment, typically paid on a weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly basis but often expressed as an annual sum, made by an employer to an employee.
Shift Differential: Additional pay provided to employees who work less desirable shifts, such as nights or weekends.
Sick Leave: Paid time off provided to employees for illness or medical appointments.
Talent Acquisition: The process of finding and acquiring skilled human labor for organizational needs.
Taxable Wage Base: The maximum amount of earnings subject to payroll taxes, such as FICA.
Timekeeping: The process of tracking the hours worked by employees.
W-2 Form: A tax form used in the United States to report wages paid to employees and the taxes withheld from them.
Wage: Compensation paid to employees based on the number of hours worked or the quantity of items produced.
Weekly Pay: When an employer pays its employees once every week.