Resources

HR Glossary

Essential HR, payroll, and compliance terms explained in plain language.

3

360-Degree Feedback: A review method that gathers input on an employee from their manager, peers, and direct reports alongside a self-assessment.

A

Accrual: The process of earning time off (PTO, sick leave) incrementally over a period.
Additional Wages: In Singapore CPF terms, wages that are not granted wholly for work done in a single month, such as annual bonuses and leave pay, which follow their own contribution treatment.
AIS (Auto-Inclusion Scheme): A scheme under which participating Singapore employers submit employee income information electronically to the tax authority, which pre-fills it in employees' tax returns.
Appraisal Cycle: The recurring schedule on which performance is reviewed, rated, and linked to development or pay decisions.
Arrears: Amounts owed to an employee from an earlier pay period and paid out in a later one. The term also describes paying employees after the period worked rather than in advance.
ATS (Applicant Tracking System): Software that manages a company's recruitment process, from job postings to candidate tracking.
Attrition Rate: The share of employees who leave an organisation over a period, expressed as a percentage of average headcount.

C

Carry-Over: Leave balance that rolls over from one year to the next instead of expiring.
Compensation: Total financial and non-financial rewards given to an employee, including salary, bonuses, and benefits.
Compensatory Off: Paid time off granted instead of extra payment when an employee has worked on a rest day, a public holiday, or beyond normal hours.
CPF (Central Provident Fund): Singapore's mandatory savings scheme for employees, funded by employer and employee contributions that support retirement, healthcare, and housing needs.
CTC (Cost to Company): The total annual cost an employer bears for an employee, including gross salary, employer contributions, allowances, and benefits. It is always higher than take-home pay.

E

EA Form: The annual statement of remuneration a Malaysian employer issues to each employee, summarising pay and deductions so the employee can file a personal income tax return.
EIS (Employment Insurance System): Malaysian social security scheme providing financial assistance to retrenched employees.
Employee Lifecycle: The stages of an employee's relationship with an employer, from attraction and hiring through onboarding and development to eventual exit.
Employment Pass: A Singapore work pass that lets an eligible foreign professional, manager, or executive work for a sponsoring employer, subject to the criteria set by the authorities.
eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score): A metric measuring how likely employees are to recommend their company as a workplace.
EOR (Employer of Record): A third party that legally employs workers on another company's behalf in a given country, taking on payroll, statutory contributions, and employment compliance.
EPF (Employees' Provident Fund): A mandatory savings and retirement plan for salaried workers in Malaysia.
ESI (Employees' State Insurance): An Indian social security scheme funded by employer and employee contributions that provides medical care and cash benefits to covered employees and their dependants.
ESS (Employee Self-Service): The part of an HR system where employees update their own details, view payslips, and apply for leave without going through HR.
Exit Interview: A conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and how they experienced the job, used to find patterns worth acting on.

F

Form 12BB: The declaration an employee in India gives their employer to claim tax exemptions and deductions, so that tax deducted from salary reflects the employee's actual position.
Form 16: The certificate an Indian employer issues to an employee after the financial year, showing salary paid and tax deducted at source, used when filing a personal income tax return.
FTE (Full-Time Equivalent): A unit that expresses headcount in full-time working hours, so a part-time employee counts as a fraction of one full-time employee.
Full and Final Settlement: The closing reconciliation of everything owed between an employer and a departing employee — unpaid salary, leave encashment, and other dues, less any recoveries.

G

Gratuity: A lump sum an employer pays an employee on separation once a qualifying period of continuous service has been completed, calculated under the applicable law or contract.
Gross Pay: Total compensation before any deductions (taxes, insurance, retirement contributions).

H

HCM (Human Capital Management): The systems and practices used to hire, pay, develop, and retain a workforce, treating people as an asset to invest in rather than a cost to administer.
HRA (House Rent Allowance): A salary component paid towards rented accommodation in India, part of which can be exempt from income tax when the prescribed conditions are met.
HRD Corp Levy: A statutory training levy payable by registered Malaysian employers, pooled to fund employee training that employers can later claim against.
HRIS: Human Resources Information System — software for managing employee data and HR processes.

I

IR21: The tax clearance return a Singapore employer files when a foreign employee ceases employment or leaves the country, so outstanding tax can be settled before final payment.
IR8A: The annual return of employee remuneration a Singapore employer prepares for each employee, reporting income paid during the year for personal income tax purposes.

L

Leave Encashment: Payment made to an employee in exchange for accrued but unused leave, usually on resignation, retirement, or at year end where policy allows it.
LOP (Loss of Pay): A deduction from salary for days an employee was absent without approved paid leave, or after their leave entitlement was exhausted.
LTA (Leave Travel Allowance): A salary component in India that reimburses an employee's travel costs while on leave, exempt from income tax to the extent the prescribed conditions are met.

N

Net Pay: The amount an employee actually receives after taxes, statutory contributions, and every other deduction are subtracted from gross pay.
Notice Period: The advance warning an employee or employer must give before ending employment, set by the employment contract or by law.

O

Offboarding: The process of managing an employee's departure, including asset return and exit interviews.
Onboarding: The process of integrating a new employee into the organization.
Ordinary Wages: In Singapore CPF terms, wages payable to an employee wholly for work done in a given month, such as monthly salary. The classification determines how contributions are calculated.
Overtime: Hours worked beyond an employee's normal working time, usually paid at a premium rate set by law or by the employment contract.

P

Pay Period: The recurring span of time a single payroll covers, commonly monthly, semi-monthly, fortnightly, or weekly.
PAYE (Pay As You Earn): A UK tax system where employers deduct income tax from employees' wages before paying them.
Payroll Reconciliation: The check performed around a pay run to confirm that earnings, deductions, statutory contributions, and payments agree with the underlying records.
Payroll Register: A report listing every employee in a pay run with their earnings, deductions, and net pay, used to review and approve payroll before money moves.
Payroll Run: The process of calculating and distributing employee wages for a specific pay period.
Payslip: The itemised statement given to an employee each pay period showing earnings, deductions, and net pay.
PCB (Potongan Cukai Bulanan): Malaysia's monthly tax deduction scheme, under which an employer withholds income tax from an employee's monthly remuneration and remits it to the tax authority.
PIP (Performance Improvement Plan): A structured, time-bound plan setting out specific performance gaps, the improvement expected, and the support and review points along the way.
Pro-Rata Salary: Salary calculated in proportion to the part of a pay period actually worked, used for mid-period joiners and leavers and for part-time schedules.
Probation Period: An initial period of employment during which performance and suitability are assessed, often carrying different notice and benefit terms than confirmed employment.
Professional Tax: A tax on salaried income and professions levied by some Indian state governments, deducted by the employer from salary and paid to the state.
Provident Fund: A retirement savings scheme funded by regular employer and employee contributions into an employee's individual account, withdrawable under the scheme's own rules.

R

Retrenchment Benefit: Compensation payable to an employee whose employment ends because the role is redundant or the business is downsized, calculated under the applicable law or employment contract.
Retro Pay: Pay owed for an earlier period, issued when a salary revision or correction is applied after that period's payroll has already run.
RLS (Row-Level Security): A database security feature that restricts data access at the row level based on user context.

S

Salary Band: The pay range attached to a job grade, defining the minimum, midpoint, and maximum pay for employees in that grade.
SDL (Skills Development Levy): A levy Singapore employers pay for the employees they hire, pooled to fund workforce training and skills upgrading.
Shift Differential: Extra pay for working less desirable shifts, such as nights, weekends, or public holidays.
SOCSO (Social Security Organization): Malaysian social security scheme providing coverage for employment injuries and invalidity.
Statutory Bonus: An annual bonus employers must pay to eligible employees under the applicable legislation, calculated on the employee's wages for the accounting year.
Statutory Deduction: Legally mandated withholdings from an employee's pay, such as taxes and social security contributions.
Succession Planning: Identifying and developing internal candidates who could step into critical roles, so the organisation is not exposed when a key person leaves.

T

TDS (Tax Deducted at Source): The Indian mechanism under which the payer withholds income tax before making a payment and deposits it with the tax authority. On salary, the employer deducts it each month.
Time and Attendance: The tracking of when employees actually work — clock-ins, shifts, breaks, and absence — which feeds hours into payroll.

U

UAN (Universal Account Number): A permanent identifier issued to a provident fund member in India that links their provident fund accounts across every employer they work for.

V

Variable Pay: Compensation that moves with performance or results, such as bonuses, incentives, and commission, as opposed to fixed salary.

W

Wage Garnishment: A legally ordered deduction an employer must withhold from an employee's pay and remit to a third party, such as a court or a tax authority.

Z

Zakat Deduction: A religious contribution that eligible Muslim employees in Malaysia may choose to pay through a monthly salary deduction arranged with their employer.