HR tech glossary

Terms A to Z

ACA

The Affordable Care Act, which requires applicable large employers to offer affordable health coverage and report it to the IRS.

ALE

Applicable large employer: an employer with 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalents.

ATS

Applicant tracking system: software that manages job postings, candidates, interviews, and offers.

Benefits administration

Software that runs enrollment and sends elections to insurance carriers.

Calibration

A meeting where managers compare performance ratings to apply a consistent standard.

COBRA

A federal law that lets employees and dependents keep group health coverage after certain events, generally for employers with 20 or more employees.

Co-employment

An arrangement where a PEO and a client company share employer responsibilities.

EDI feed

An automated file that sends benefits enrollment data to a carrier.

EEO-1

An annual demographic report filed with the EEOC by employers with 100 or more employees and some federal contractors.

Employee self-service

Features that let employees update their own information and find answers without HR.

eNPS

Employee Net Promoter Score, a measure of how likely employees are to recommend their employer.

EOR

Employer of record: a company that legally employs workers on behalf of another company.

E-Verify

A federal online system that compares Form I-9 information with government records.

Exempt employee

An employee not entitled to overtime under the FLSA, usually because of salary and job duties.

FLSA

The Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets federal minimum wage, overtime, and record-keeping rules.

FMLA

The Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave.

Form 1095-C

The form applicable large employers use to report health coverage offers to employees and the IRS.

Form I-9

The federal form used to verify identity and work authorization for every new hire.

Gross to net

The calculation from total pay to take-home pay after taxes and deductions.

HCM

Human capital management: a broad suite covering core HR, payroll, talent, and analytics.

HRIS

Human resources information system: the core database of employee records.

ICHRA

Individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement: employer reimbursement for individual health insurance.

Implementation

The process of setting up and launching software, including data migration and configuration.

Nine-box grid

A talent review tool plotting performance against potential.

Non-exempt employee

An employee entitled to minimum wage and overtime under the FLSA.

OKR

Objectives and key results, a goal-setting method.

Onboarding

The process of bringing a new hire from offer acceptance to productivity.

Pay transparency

Laws requiring salary ranges in job postings or on request.

PEO

Professional employer organization: a co-employment provider of payroll, benefits, and HR services.

PEPM

Per employee per month, a common software pricing unit.

Predictive scheduling

Laws requiring advance notice of work schedules for some employers.

Pulse survey

A short, frequent employee survey.

SCIM

A standard for automatically creating and removing user accounts across systems.

SOC 2

An independent audit report on a service provider's security controls.

SSO

Single sign-on, letting users log in to many systems with one identity.

Structured interview

An interview where all candidates answer the same questions scored on the same criteria.

WARN Act

A federal law requiring advance notice of certain plant closings and mass layoffs.