The IntraQ Library
Plain explanations of how workforce practices actually work: what a thing is, how it operates, what teams get wrong, and what they do about it. Written for the people who run HR, not for a search engine.
50 entries across 19 categories.
Benefits
Benefits401(k) PlanA 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan that lets employees defer part of their pay into an investment account, often with an employer matching or non-elective contribution. It is governed by the Internal Revenue Code and, for private employers, by ERISA.BenefitsCOBRA Continuation CoverageCOBRA is a federal law that lets employees and their covered family members keep group health coverage for a limited time after an event that would otherwise end it, generally at their own cost of up to 102 percent of the full premium. It applies to group health plans of employers with 20 or more employees.BenefitsEmployee BenefitsEmployee benefits are the non-wage forms of compensation an employer provides, including health coverage, retirement plans, insurance, and paid leave. Some are required by law and funded through payroll taxes or insurance, and the rest are voluntary programs the employer chooses to offer.BenefitsOpen EnrollmentOpen enrollment is the annual window during which employees may elect, change, or drop their employer-sponsored benefits for the coming plan year. Outside that window, elections are generally locked until the next open enrollment unless a qualifying life event occurs.
Compensation
CompensationCompensation PhilosophyA compensation philosophy is an employer written statement of how it decides what to pay: which markets it benchmarks against, where in that market it targets, and how pay moves once someone is hired.CompensationMinimum WageMinimum wage is the lowest hourly rate an employer may lawfully pay a covered employee. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets a federal floor, and states and localities may set higher rates that then govern.CompensationOvertimeOvertime is the premium pay a non-exempt employee earns for hours worked beyond the legal threshold in a workweek, calculated at one and one half times the employee regular rate of pay.CompensationPay TransparencyPay transparency is the practice, and in a growing number of states the legal requirement, of disclosing pay information such as the salary range for a role to applicants and employees.CompensationShift DifferentialA shift differential is extra pay for working hours that are harder to staff, such as evenings, overnights, weekends, or holidays. It is a voluntary pay practice, but once paid it becomes part of the overtime regular rate.
Employee Relations
Employee RelationsProgressive DisciplineProgressive discipline is a practice of responding to performance or conduct problems with escalating steps, each documented, so an employee has notice and an opportunity to correct before the relationship ends.Employee RelationsReasonable AccommodationA reasonable accommodation is a change to a job, a work environment, or the way things are usually done that enables a qualified person with a disability to apply for a job, perform its essential functions, or enjoy equal benefits of employment. Similar obligations apply to religious practice and to pregnancy-related limitations.
Employment & Classification
Employment & ClassificationAt-Will EmploymentAt-will employment means either the employer or the employee can end the employment relationship at any time, for any lawful reason, with no advance notice required.Employment & ClassificationCo-EmploymentCo-employment is an arrangement in which two organizations both hold employer responsibilities for the same worker, typically a client company and a staffing agency or professional employer organization. Each is responsible for a different set of obligations.Employment & ClassificationEmployee vs. Independent ContractorWorker classification decides whether someone is an employee, who is covered by wage, tax, and benefits law, or an independent contractor, who runs an independent business and is not. The classification follows the real working relationship, not the contract label.Employment & ClassificationEmployment StatusEmployment status is the set of classifications that together describe a worker relationship to an organization. It is not one label: a worker sits on several independent axes at once, and each is decided by a different rule.Employment & ClassificationExempt vs. Non-Exempt EmployeesExempt and non-exempt describe whether an employee is covered by the overtime and minimum wage rules of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Non-exempt employees earn overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek; exempt employees do not.Employment & ClassificationFull-Time vs. Part-Time EmploymentFull-time and part-time describe how many hours an employee is scheduled to work. There is no single federal definition, so the line is set by employer policy except where a specific law, such as the health coverage rules, defines it for its own purpose.Employment & ClassificationProbationary PeriodA probationary period, often called an introductory period, is a defined stretch at the start of employment during which a new hire receives closer evaluation. In at-will employment it grants the employer no special termination rights.
Employment Documentation
Employment DocumentationEmployee HandbookAn employee handbook is the document an employer uses to put its policies, expectations, and benefits summaries in one place, and to record that every employee received them.Employment DocumentationForm I-9Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is the federal form every U.S. employer must complete for each person hired to confirm identity and authorization to work in the United States.Employment DocumentationOffer LetterAn offer letter is the written document that extends a job to a candidate and states the core terms of the role: title, start date, pay, classification, reporting line, and any conditions the offer depends on.
Global Workforce
HR Fundamentals
HR FundamentalsHR Business PartnerAn HR business partner is an HR professional assigned to a specific part of the business who advises its leaders on organizational design, talent, pay, and employee issues, rather than running centralized HR programs.HR FundamentalsHuman ResourcesHuman resources is the organizational function that owns how people are hired, paid, managed, developed, and separated, and that operates the systems, records, and policies those decisions run on.HR FundamentalsJob DescriptionA job description is the written record of what a role is responsible for, what it requires, and which of its functions are essential. It is the reference point for hiring, pay, performance, and accommodation decisions.
HR Operations
HR Technology
HR TechnologyApplicant Tracking SystemAn applicant tracking system is the system of record for hiring. It holds open requisitions, candidates, and applications, moves each candidate through defined stages, and preserves the record of who applied and what happened to them.HR TechnologyHRISAn HRIS is the system that holds the authoritative record of who works for an organization, what job each person holds, and what has changed about their employment over time.
Leave
LeaveBereavement LeaveBereavement leave is time off after the death of a family member or another close person, used for grieving, funeral attendance, travel, and settling affairs. It is an employer-provided benefit in most of the United States, though a small number of states now require it.LeaveFamily and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)The Family and Medical Leave Act is a federal law that entitles eligible employees of covered employers to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for specified family and medical reasons, with group health coverage maintained during the leave.LeavePaid Time Off (PTO)Paid time off is employer-provided paid leave that an employee can use for personal reasons, most often vacation, personal days, and in combined plans, illness. No federal law requires it, so the accrual rules, caps, and payout terms come from the employer policy and from state law.LeaveParental LeaveParental leave is time away from work to bond with and care for a new child after birth, adoption, or foster placement. Employer parental leave is a benefit the company chooses to provide, and it is separate from FMLA job protection and from state paid family leave wage replacement.LeaveSick LeaveSick leave is time off for an employee's own illness, injury, or medical care, and in most modern laws for the care of a family member. There is no general federal paid sick leave mandate for private employers, so the requirement, when it exists, comes from state or local law.
Offboarding
OffboardingExit InterviewAn exit interview is a structured conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and what their experience of working there was actually like.OffboardingOffboardingOffboarding is the process of separating an employee from the organization: final pay, benefits continuation, access revocation, asset return, knowledge transfer, and the records that close out the employment relationship.
Onboarding
Payroll
PayrollGross Pay vs Net PayGross pay is total earnings for a pay period before any withholding. Net pay is what remains after taxes and deductions, and it is the amount actually deposited to the employee.PayrollPay PeriodA pay period is the recurring block of time an employer uses to calculate wages, and the pay frequency is how often those periods close. Pay frequency is regulated by state law, not by federal law.PayrollPayroll DeductionsPayroll deductions are amounts withheld from an employee gross pay. They divide into statutory withholding the employer must take, court or agency ordered withholding, and voluntary deductions the employee elects.
Performance Management
Performance ManagementPerformance Improvement PlanA performance improvement plan, commonly called a PIP, is a written plan that states specifically where an employee performance falls short, what has to change, how the change will be measured, and by when.Performance ManagementPerformance ReviewA performance review is a documented evaluation of an employee performance over a defined period, usually combining a manager assessment against expectations with a rating and a conversation about what changes next.
Recruiting & Hiring
Recruiting & HiringBackground CheckA background check is a pre-employment or in-employment screening of a candidate history, commonly criminal records, employment and education verification, and sometimes driving or credit history. When it is run through a third-party screening company, the Fair Credit Reporting Act governs how it must be handled.Recruiting & HiringStructured InterviewA structured interview asks every candidate for a role the same predetermined questions, in the same order, and scores the answers against the same defined criteria.
Time & Attendance
Time & AttendanceMeal and Rest BreaksMeal and rest breaks are scheduled interruptions in a work shift. Federal law does not generally require employers to provide them, but it does dictate whether a break that is provided must be paid.Time & AttendanceTimekeepingTimekeeping is the practice of recording the hours non-exempt employees work. Federal law requires accurate records of hours worked each day and each workweek, but does not require any particular method or device.
Workforce Compliance
Workforce ComplianceEEO ComplianceEEO compliance is an employer's practice of making employment decisions without regard to characteristics protected by law, and keeping the records and filings that demonstrate it.Workforce ComplianceHarassment PreventionHarassment prevention is the set of practices an employer uses to stop harassment based on a protected characteristic from occurring, and to find and correct it promptly when it does.
Workforce Planning
Workforce PlanningHeadcount PlanningHeadcount planning is the process of deciding how many positions an organization will carry in a given period, which of those are funded, when each one starts, and what the total costs.Workforce PlanningWorkforce PlanningWorkforce planning is the process of determining what work the organization will need done over a defined horizon, what people and skills that requires, what it currently has, and how it will close the difference.