The Gusto Glossary for Business

Gusto Editors|Published Aug 17, 2023|4 Min

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You’ve launched a business and heaps of information is coming at you fast and furious. Among all the new things you’re learning, you may be hearing jargon, phrases, and terms that don’t sound familiar. We’re here to help. Below are common business-related terms with plain language definitions you can easily process. So, feel free to go ahead and impress everyone at your next meeting with your extensive new vocabulary!

A	B
4-Day Work Week	Baby Boomers
A 360-degree survey	Background Check
A 457(b) plan	Bare Minimum Mondays
A 401(a) plan	Base Salary
Absence Management	Behavioral Competencies
Absenteeism Policy	Benefits Audit
Accessibility	Benefits Compliance
Accounting Software	Benefits Eligibility
Accrual	Benefits Enrollment
Action Item	Bereavement leave
Actual Deferral Percentage (ADP)	Biweekly Pay
Adaptive Devices	Blended Workforce
Administrative Services Only or ASO	Bonus Accrual
Adoption Leave	Bonus Pay
Advance earned income credit	Bookkeeping
Adverse Impact	Boomerang Employee
Affordable Care Act	Bradford Factor
Ageism	Bring your own device (BYOD) policy
Annuity	Business Agility
Affirmative Action	Business Insurance
Affirmative Action Plan	Business License
Age Discrimination	Business Necessity
Agile Organization	Business Process Outsourcing
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Annual Income
Annualized Salary
Application Flow Log
Attrition
At-Will Employment
Automated Clearinghouse
Awards & Prizes

C	D
California Labor Laws	Data Privacy Policy
Candidate Sourcing	Deductions
Career Path	Deferred Bonus
Career Plateau	Demotion
CCPA Compliance	Dental Insurance
Certified Payroll Professional	Direct Report
Circular A	Disparate Effect
Co-employment	Disparate Treatment
Compa Ratio	Diversity
Competency Based Pay	Diversity Recruiting
Circular-E	Dual Employee Status
Co-Employment	Dual Labor Market
Coffee Badging
Compensatory Time Off
Commission Structure
Common Law Test
Compensation
Compliance Audit
Conditions of Employment
Cross Functional Teams
Contingency Recruiting
Core Competencies
Corporate Social Responsibility
Cost per hire
Cover letter

E	F
Earned Income Credit	Federal Holidays
Earnings	Federal ID Number
Edd	Federal Income Tax
Equal Opportunity Employer	Federal Mileage Rate
Emotional Intelligence	Federal Unemployment Tax Act
Employee Benefits Administration	Flextime
Employee Database	Form 147C
Employee Engagement	Form 1099
Employee Employment	Form 940
Employee Handbook	Form 941
Employee Leasing	Form 942
Employee Lifecycle	Form 1042-S
Employee Management	Form 1099
Employee Management Software	Form 1099-SA
Employee Orientation	Form 1120-S
Employee Recognition	Form 2553
Employee Retention Tax Credit ERTC	Form 5498-SA
Employee Satisfaction	Form 8109
Employee Self Service	Form 8832
Employee Turnover	Form I-9
Employee Types	Form W-3
Employee Wellbeing	Form W-5
Employer Data Interchange	Flexible Workplace
Employer Match	FLSA Duties Test
Employer Payroll Taxes	Franchise Business
Employment Contract	Fringe Benefits
Employment Verification Letter	Front Pay
Equity Compensation	FSA Limits
Equity vs Equality	FTE
Employee Resource Group	Full-Time Hours
ERISA compliance
Expenses

G	H
Garden leave	Hard Skills
GDPR Compliance	Headcount Forecasting
Gen-C	Headcount Planning
Glass Ceiling	H-1B visa
Global HR	HIPAA
Global Payroll	Hiring Funnel
Glossary	HMO
Good Standing	Hours Worked
Great Resignation	HR
Green Status Effect	HR Business Partner
Gross Income	HR Compliance
Gross Pay	HR Dashboard
	HRIS
	HRIS Integration
	Human Resources Management System (HRMS)
	HR Scorecards
	HR Software
	HSA Contribution Limits
	Human Resource Audit
	Hushed Hybrid
	Hybrid Work
	Hybrid Workforce Policy

I	J
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986	Job Classification
Inclusion	Job Description
Independent Contractor	Job Shadowing
Indirect Compensation	Job Requisition
Inflation
Informal Communication
Insubordination
Injunction Relief
Internal Mobility
Interview Panel
Interview Scorecard
Invoice

K	L
Knowledge Management	Labor Force
	Labor Force Participation
	Learning Management System
	Leave Accrual Processing
	Leave of Absence
	Letter of Termination
	Levy
	Life Insurance
	Limited Purpose FSA
	Long-term Disability

M	N
Malicious Compliance	Net Pay
Manpower Planning	Non Resident Alien
Medicare Wages And Tips	Nepotism
Mental Health Benefits	New Hire
Military Leave	New Hire Report
Minimum Wage
Multi-Country Payroll

O	P
Occupational Stress	Paid Family Leave
Offboarding	Paid Holidays
Office Perks Program	Paid Time Off (PTO)
Onboarding	Passive Candidate
Onboarding Automation	Passive Talent Search
On-Call Schedule	Pay Calculation
Open Door Policy	Pay Grade
Open Enrollment	Pay Group
Operating Budget	Pay Equity Audit
Org Chart	Payroll Activities
OSHA Form 300	Payroll Automation
OSHA 301 Form	Payroll Calendar
	Payroll Compliance
	Payroll Cycle
	Payroll Deductions
	Payroll Documentation
	Payroll Forecast
	Payroll Governance
	Payroll Integration
	Payroll Journal
	Payroll Ledger
	Payroll Liabilities
	Payroll Processing
	Payroll Provider
	Payroll Reconciliation
	Payroll Report
	Payroll Security
	Payroll Service
	Payroll Software
	Payroll Tax Rates
	Payroll Training
	PCORI Fees
	Peer Feedback
	Pension Plan
	PEO
	People Analytics
	People Operations
	Performance Bonus
	Performance Improvement
	Performance Management
	Performance Review
	Personal Income Tax
	Post Tax Deductions
	Presenteeism
	Pre Tax Deduction
	Prevailing Wage
	Prior Period Adjustment
	Professional Reference
	Proof of Insurance
	Promotion
	Prorate

Q	R
Quiet Firing	Real-Time Processing
Quiet Hiring	Recognition Programs
Quiet Quitting	Recruiting Metrics
	Recruiting Software
	Redundancy
	Reesenteeism
	Referral Bonus
	Remote Work
	Rest Periods
	Retaliation
	Return to Office Policy

S	T
Sabbatical leave	Talent Acquisition Costs
Salary Basis Test	Talent Management
Salary Compression	Talent Mapping
Salary Range	Talent Pipeline
Salary vs. Hourly	Tangible Rewards
S-Corporation	Tax Audit
Shift Differential	Tax Compliance
Small Business	Tax Planning
Social HR	Tax Preparation
Standard Hours	Tax Rates
Stipend	Tax Records
Substantial Limitation	Tax Regulations
Succession Planning	Tax Reporting
Secondary Insurance	Tax Software
Self-Employment Tax	Temporary Staffing
Shift Shock	The Great Gloom
Skill Based Hiring	Time to hire
Skills Gap	TIN Number
Small Business	Targeted Recruiting
Social Media Background Screening	Total Remuneration
Social Security Number	Transitional Employment
Social Security Tax
Social Security Wages
Staffing Strategy
Standard Deduction
Statutory Employee
Straight Time Pay
Stay Interview
Summary Plan Description
Summary Dismissal
Supplemental Unemployment Benefits

U	V
Union	Vacation Pay
Utilization Analysis	Variable Pay
	Virtual HR
	Vision Insurance
	VTO (Voluntary time off)

W	X
W-2 Form
W-9 Form
Wages
Wage to Salary
Wellness Program
Withholding
Work Behavior
Worker
Workforce Analysis
Work-life balance
Workplace Investigations
Workplace Safety

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Gusto Editors

Gusto Editors, contributing authors on Gusto, provide actionable tips and expert advice on HR and payroll for successful business management.

The Gusto Glossary for Business

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