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Abbott-Langer & Associates Business Glossary

This glossary of business definitions contains over 2,000 business terms used in compensation and benefits administration. Continually updated, this specialized business dictionary focuses on definitions of Human Resources terms and business terms.

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Hardship Allowance

A payment made in recognition of 'different' conditions prevailing at the host location. Locations are assessed for their degree of hardship and the criteria may include isolation, special health risks, extremes of climate and political instability, for example. The allowance is usually expressed as percentage of base pay.

Hardship Distributions

A withdrawal of an employee's contributions to a 401(k) plan prior to retirement at age 55 or attainment of age 591/2. A hardship withdrawal may be made only in cases of financial emergency provided there are no other sources available to meet the need the withdrawal is taxable as an early distribution and subject to a 10% excise tax.

Hazard

Danger or obstacle, the existence of which is sometimes tied to the reward system.

Hazardous Duty Pay

Work, which exposes the employee to a considerably greater risk than normal, working conditions. Pay is above normal rate tables due to the risk associated with each position and risks.

Headquarters Country

The country where the center of operations or administration of a particular employer.

Health Care Benefits

In health insurance, policy benefits payable as a result of disability from covered sickness or accident. Sickness coverage is rarely written separately, unless the insured also carries an amount of accident insurance with the same company.

Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA)

The agency of the Department of Health and Human Services that, among other things, administers the Medicare program and works with the states to administer their Medicaid programs.

Health Care Reimbursement Account

Allows employees to set aside pretax funds for eligible health care benefits such as physical exams, vision care and dental care, including deductibles and co-payments. See also Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).

Health Insurance

Protection that provides payment of benefits for covered sickness or injury. Included under this heading are various types of insurance, such as accident insurance, disability income insurance, medical expense insurance, and accidental death and dismemberment insurance.

Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996 (HIPAA)

Federal legislation that improves access to health insurance when changing jobs by restricting certain preexisting condition limitations, and guarantees availability and renew ability of health insurance coverage for all employers regardless of claims experience or business size. The law also increases the health insurance deduction for the self-employed provides tax incentives for purchase of long-term care insurance, and establishes medical saving accounts (MSAs), which provide for tax-deductible contributions to accounts to cover medical expenses.

Health Maintenance Act (HMA)

The Health Maintenance Act was established to encourage the development of HMOs. It requires employers subject to minimum wage standards who employ 25 or more employees, as well as states and their political subdivisions, to include in a health benefit plan offered to employees the option of membership in a qualified health maintenance organization (HMO) if an HMO had made a request for such inclusion.

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

A prepaid medical group practice plan that provides a comprehensive predetermined medical care benefit package. The government, medical schools, hospitals, employers, labor unions, consumer groups, insurance companies, can sponsor the HMO and hospital-medical plans. HMOs are both insurers and providers of health care.

Heirs Of ERISA Plans

The term is broadly applied to anyone who receives property from a deceased person's estate. The heir of the ERISA plan is deemed to be the beneficiary of the employee's retirement plan.

Hierarchy Of Needs

Abraham Maslow's classification of human needs and motives, ascending in a pyramid from the basic level of physiological needs, such as hunger and thirst, to the highest level of self-actualization.

Highly Compensated Employees

Either a 5% owner or a person who earned more than $80,000 during the current or preceding year. Repeals rule treating highest paid officer as an HCE, the top-100 rule, and family aggregation rules in both the HCE definition and the $150,000 compensation cap. Discrimination in favor of this group is prohibited.

Highly Structured Questionnaires

An insurance policy in which the condition of the policy and the application constitute the agreement, in its entirety, between the policy owner and the insurer. Contrast with open contract.

Hiring Bonus

An extra sum of money provided at time of hire to entice an applicant to accept a job offer or to make up for compensation forfeited at the previous company.

Hiring Rate

Refers to the wage or salary to which an employee is assigned upon entering the job.

History Statement

A physician's report on a particular health condition.

Hold Harmless Release

A statement indicating that the individual will reimburse the insurance company if the claim is ever challenged and deemed to be fraudulent.

Holidays

Days established by law or custom for which workers receive pay while absent from work. Law establishes statutory holidays. When the customary day tolls on a weekend a moveable holiday may be substituted for it on another day.

Home Country

The expatriate's normal country of employment.

Home Health Care

Skilled and semi-skilled part-time care received at home. May include nursing care, physical therapy, speech therapy and/or such custodial services as cooking, cleaning and washing.

Home Leave

Company funded return airfares, which allow an expatriate to return to his home country for holiday/vacation purposes.

Home Sale Protection

This is a feature provided for expatriates that are selling their home for a foreign assignment. It will pay all the costs associated for selling a home and relocation, except for capital gains.

Hospital Confinement Insurance

A form of health insurance that provides a stipulated daily, weekly or monthly indemnity during hospital confinement. The indemnity is payable on an unallocated basis without regard to the actual expense of hospital confinement.

Hospital Expense Insurance

A health insurance policy that covers daily hospital room and board charges and some miscellaneous hospital expenses.

Hospital Indemnity Insurance

A form of health insurance that provides a stipulated daily, weekly or monthly indemnity during hospital confinement. The indemnity is payable on an unallocated basis without regard to the actual expense of hospital confinement.

Hospital Surgical Expense Insurance

Medical expense health insurance that combines basic hospital coverage and basic surgical coverage into one policy.

Hospitals

A legally constituted institution having organized facilities for the care and treatment of sick and injured persons on a resident or inpatient basis, including facilities for diagnosis and surgery under the supervision of a staff of one or more licensed physicians and which provides 24-hour nursing services by a registered nurse on duty or call. It does not mean convalescent, nursing, rest or extended care facilities or a facility operated exclusively for the treatment of the aged, drug addict or alcoholic, whether or not such facilities are operated as a separate institution by a hospital.

Host Country

A nation in which representatives or organizations of another state are present because of government invitation and/or international agreement.

Hour Of Service

For purposes of retirement plans, an hour for which an employee is directly or indirectly paid by the employer for the performance of duties. An hour of overtime is still counted as only an hour of service, even though the pay for overtime may be higher. Hours during a leave of absence or a vacation with pay are counted.

Hourly

Occurring every hour or payable by the hour.

Hours Of Work

Standard hours worked in a year is 2,080 (52 weeks x 40 hours per week).

Housing Allowance

An amount paid by the company, either to the expatriate or direct to the property landlord, to enable the expatriate to rent or lease housing in the host country.

Housing Norm

The portion of the base salary typically spent in the home country on housing. The norm may vary depending on family status and salary level.

HR

Human Resources or the Human Resources Department.

HTML

An acronym for Hypertext Markup Language, HTML is the computer language used to create hypertext documents. HTML uses a finite list of tags that describe the general structure of various kinds of documents linked together on the World Wide Web.

Hurdle Rate

The required return in capital budgeting. For example, if a project has an expected rate of return higher than the hurdle rate, the project may be accepted.

Hypothetical Tax

The approximate amount of tax, calculated on home country base salary and bonus, where applicable, that the expatriate would have paid if he/she had remained in the home country.