Human Resources Vocabulary

Absentee

Someone who is not at work when they should be, usually without permission.

Absenteeism (noun) Accident at work = industrial injury Applicant - candidate

A person who formally requests something, especially a job, or a place at college or university.

Application

An official request for something, usually in writing.

Application form

A paper or set of papers printed with marked spaces in which answers to questions can be written or information can be recorded in an organized way.

To Apply (for a job) (verb)

To request something, usually officially, especially by writing or sending in a form.

To Appoint (verb) a person

To choose someone officially for a job or responsibility.

Aptitude test To Ask (verb) for a rise

A test to find out whether someone has a natural ability for a particular type of work. To put a question to someone, or to request an answer from someone.

Assistant

Someone who helps someone else to do a job.

Back pay

Money paid from a date in the past up to the present time.

Bargaining power

The ability of a person or group to get what they want.

Basic salary

What a person earns before other sums of money, such as payments for working extra hours, are added.

Lay off

To stop employing someone, usually because there is no work for them to do.

To Be out of work

To be unemployed.

Business hours - office hours

Hours of the day when a business is open, usually between 9am and 5:30pm

Christmas bonus

Extra money paid as a gift for a successful business year.

Clerical work - office work

Administrative duties.

Company bargaining - company negotiation

When representatives of management and the empolyees discuss terms.

Compensation for permanent disability

A payment made for injuries caused at work which prevent further employment.

Credentials

The abilities and experience which make someone suitable for a particular job or activity, or proof of someone's abilities and experience.

Day shift

A period in the day during which a particular group of people work / the group of workers who work for a period during the day.

Disability pension

A sum of money paid regularly by the government or a private company to a person who can not work any more because they have become ill.

To Dismiss (verb) - to fire

To remove someone from their job, especially because they have done something wrong.

Dismiss without notice

To immediately remove someone from their job, especially because they have done something wrong.

Early retirement

When you leave your job and stop working before the normal age.

Employer

The person or company someone works for.

Employment agency

A business that finds suitable people to work for other businesses.

Employment contract - labour contract

To have formally agreed to work for a company or person on a stated job for a stated period of time.

Executive personnel

People in a high position, especially in business, who make decisions and put them into action.

Experienced person

Someone who has knowledge of the job they do.

To Fill (verb) a vacancy

The find an employee for a vacant position.

Freelance

Doing particular pieces of work for different organizations, rather than working all the time for a single organization.

Full-time employment / job

Work done for the whole of a working week.

Health care

A benefit given to employees to help when they or their family members become ill.

Higher education - advanced education

Education to college or university level.

To Hold (verb) a position

To be employed in a position in a company.

Index-linked wages

A time, often one or two weeks, when someone does not go to work or school but is free to do what they want, such as travel or relax. Describes an employer payment that changes by the same amount as the general level of prices.

Industrial relations (GB) - labor relations (US)

The relationships between companies and their workers.

Industrial tribunal - labour court

A type of law court which decides on disagreements between companies and their workers.

Internal regulations

Official company rules.

Interview

A meeting in which someone asks you questions to see if you are suitable for a job or course.

Job - employment

The regular work which a person does to earn money.

Job application

The process of finding employment in a company.

Job description

A list of the responsibilities which you have and the duties which you are expected to perform in your work.

Job evaluation

The process of comparing a job with other jobs in an organization and deciding how much the person who is doing the job should be paid.

Job satisfaction

The feeling of pleasure and achievement which you experience in your job when you know that your work is worth doing, or the degree to which your work gives you this feeling.

Job security

If you have job security, your job is likely to be permanent.

Job sharing

When two or more people divide the hours of a full-time job between them.

Labour disputes

When management and employees or an employee disagrees with company policy or decisions.

Labour force - manpower

A description of the amount of people able to work or employed.

Labour market

The supply of people in a particular country or area who are able and willing to work.

Holiday (GB) - vacation (US)

Labour relations - trade-union relations

The relationships between employees and employers.

Leave

Time permitted away from work for holiday or illness.

Letter of appointment

A letter showing that a person has been employed by a company.

Managing director

The person in charge of the way a company operates.

Middle management

The people within a company who are in charge of departments or groups, but who are below those in charge of the whole company.

Minimum wage

The smallest amount of money that an employer is legally allowed to pay someone who works for them.

Motivation

Enthusiasm for doing something.

Night shift

A period in the night during which a particular group of people work / the group of workers who work for a period during the night.

Occupation - employment

A person's job.

Office hours

Hours during which business is done.

Office manager

Person responsible for administration and the running of an office.

Office staff - office personnel On probation - to be on trial

A period of time at the start of a new job when you are watched and tested to see if you are suitable for the job.

On strike

To have stopped work in an attempt to persuade management to increase salaries or provide benefits, or because of an argument.

On the job training

Training given while employed at a job.

Outsourcing

If a company outsources, it pays to have part of its work done by another company.

Overtime pay

Extra payment for working beyond the usual time.

Overtime

Time spent working beyond the usual time needed or expected in a job.

Part-time job

If you work part-time or do part-time work, you work for only some of the day or the week.

To Pay (verb)

To give money to someone for work which they have done.

Payroll - payroll ledger

A list of the people employed by a company showing how much each one earns.

payslip

A piece of paper given to someone who is employed to show how much money they have earned and how much tax has been subtracted.

Pension

A sum of money paid regularly by the government or a private company to a person who does not work any more because they are too old, they have become ill or reached retirement age.

Pension fund

A supply of money which many people pay into, especially employees of a company, and which is invested in order to provide them with a pension when they are older.

Permanent staff

Full-time employed staff.

Personnel department

A part of a company that deals with employee details.

Production bonus

An extra amount of money that is given to you as a present or reward for better quality work or improved productivity.

Public holiday (GB) - national holiday (US)

A day when almost everyone in a particular country does not have to go to work or school.

Purchasing manager

The person in charge of buying for the company.

Refresher course

A course to practise and improve skills, especially because you have not used them for a long time.

To Resign (verb)

To give up a job or position by telling your employer that you are leaving.

Resignation (noun) To Retire (verb)

To leave your job or stop working because of old age, ill health or because you have reached the common age to stop working.

Risk indemnity

Protection against possible damage or loss, especially a promise of payment, or the money paid if there is such damage or loss.

Seasonal employment

Relating to a job done during a particular period in the year.

To Select (verb) candidates

To choose a candidate, or to choose by making careful decisions.

Severance pay - dismissal pay

Money paid by an employer to an employee whose job the employer has had to bring to an end.

Sick leave

Absence from work because of illness.

Skilled labour

People who have been trained for a job.

Social security

A system of payments made by the government to people who are ill, poor or who have no job.

To Strike (verb)

To refuse to continue working because of an argument with an employer about working conditions, pay levels or job losses.

Striker

Someone who is involved in a strike.

The job is still vacant

The job is still available.

Trade-union (GB) - labor union (US)

An organization that represents the people who work in a particular industry, protects their rights, and discusses their pay and working conditions with employers.

To Train (verb)

To prepare or be prepared for a job, activity or sport, by learning skills and/or by mental or physical exercise.

Training

The process of learning the skills you need to do a particular job or activity.

Underemployed

When something or someone is not used to it's or their full ability or for the normal time it or they is usually used for.

Unemployed

Not having a job that provides money.

Unskilled labour

Work for which no skills are needed.

Unskilled worker

Unskilled people have no particular work skills.

Vacancy - vacant position

A job that no one is doing and is therefore available for someone new to do.

Workload

The amount of work to be done, especially by a particular person or machine in a period of time.

Workplace

A building or room where people perform their jobs, or these places generally.