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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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U.S. Adopted Child Health Care Mandate

Under COBRA, group health plans must treat adopted children like biological children covered by the plan, and plans are precluded from applying pre-existing condition exclusions to an adopted child where no such exclusion applies to a newborn biological child.

U.S. Minimum Wage

The lowest wage, determined by law or contract, that an employer may pay an employee for a specified job.

U.S. Permanent Resident Alien Status

A green card holder who is considered a permanent resident alien. They are entitled to all the rights, privileges and obligations of an American citizen except the right to vote.

Unallocated Funding

A method of funding a pension plan in which the pension funds as a whole are held and managed by a funding agency, often an insurance company, and are not allocated to specific plan participants.

Unappropriated Earned Surplus

The amount of an insurer's surplus remaining after determination of an insurer's reserves, capital, and other surplus amounts.

Unbundled Insurance Product

The process, of an insurance product, in which the mortality, investment, and expense factors used to calculate premium rates and cash values are each identified in the policy.

Unclaimed Benefits

There are no payees to be found in the collection process of claims.

Unclaimed Property Statutes

Statutes that regulate the disposition of funds for which no owner can be found. Insurers typically hold unclaimed property for seven years. If the rightful owner is not found during this time, the property is turned over to the state.

Underfunded Pension Plan

A pension plan that has a negative surplus.

Underwater Options

An outstanding option where the option price is above the stock's current market price.

Underwriter

Several definitions 1) the company that receives the premiums and accepts responsibility for fulfilling the policy contract, (2) the company employee who decides whether or not the company should assume a particular risk or (3) the agent who sells the policy. (Investments) With respect to a mutual fund, the entity responsible for marketing the shares of the fund. See also Investment Banker.

Underwriting

The process of identifying and classifying the potential degree of risk represented by a proposed insured. (Investments) The procedure by which investment bankers channel investment capital from investors to corporations and municipalities.

Underwriting Department

The department in a life and health insurance company that selects the risks that the company will insure.

Underwriting Impairments

Factors that increase an individual's risk above that which is normal for his or her age.

Underwriting Requirements

Printed instructions that indicate what evidence of insurability is required for a given situation and which of several optional information sources will be needed to provide underwriters with necessary information.

Unemployment Compensation

Payments made under state-administered programs to workers who are unemployed and meet the requirements of the law involved to qualify for such payments. The requirements usually are (1) that the worker not be unemployed voluntarily. (2) That the worker has worked in employment that is 'covered' by the law. (3) That the worker be willing and able to take employment offered him or her. (4) That an initial period (the waiting period) of unemployment elapse before compensation is due. Programs are entirely employer financed except in four states that require small employee contributions.

Unemployment Insurance

In Canada, a federal statute that provides unemployment insurance to almost all persons who are employed in Canada.

Unemployment Insurance Act

In Canada, a federal statute that provides unemployment insurance to almost all persons who are employed in Canada.

Unexercised Options / SARS

The rights that have not yet been exercised. They may consist of both exercisable (vested) and non-exercisable (non-vested) rights.

Unfunded Commitments To Executives

A nonqualified compensation plan in which future Financial commitments have been made to an executive organization. The compensation plan has not been secured with funds that have been put aside for that purpose.

Unicasting

Over a network, communication between a sender and single user.

Uniform Accident And Sickness Insurance Act

Model legislation governing health insurance contracts, in Canada. It has been agreed upon by the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) and enacted with minor variations by all the common law jurisdictions.

Uniform Distribution

It looks 'flat' when graphed. A symmetrical distribution in which the frequency in each interval is about the same.

Uniform Life Insurance Act

Model legislation governing life insurance contracts, in Canada. It has been agreed upon by the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) and enacted with minor variations by all of the common law jurisdictions.

Uniform Pension Plan (UPP)

A prototype pension plan (see prototype plan), in Canada, developed by members of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association and approved by the appropriate Canadian regulatory authorities.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

An acronym for Uniform Resource Locator, a URL is the address for a resource or site (usually a directory or file) on the World Wide Web and the convention that web browsers use for locating files and other remote services.

Unilateral Contract

A contract in which only one party promises to do something.

Uni-Modal

Distribution having only one mode.

Uninsurable Risk Class

Individuals with a risk of loss so great that an insurance company will not offer them insurance.

Union Welfare Fund

A union organized fund, and one or more employers to which contributions are made by the employer(s) so that organization benefits can be made available to the union's members.

Unit-Benefit Formula

A method of calculating benefits for a defined benefit pension plan based on years of service.

Unit-Credit Funding Cost Method

This is a funding method where with a single, one time payment / premium.

Universal Life Insurance

A whole life insurance product whose investment component pays a competitive interest rate rather than the below-market crediting rate.

Universal Resource Identifier (URI)

Unreasonable compensation is a level of compensation for owner-managers that does not meet the requirements of IRC 162(a) for reasonable compensation. This may be either too low a compensation level or too high, depending upon the form of incorporation. In order for the compensation to be considered as a deductible business expense it must (1) be for services rendered and (2) generally be an amount that like enterprises ordinarily would pay for the services under similar circumstances. There are a series of further factors to consider in determining the similarity of the circumstances. Compensation over the maximum leads to the IRS changing wages to a constructive dividend, an action that creates higher corporate taxes plus interest and penalties. In an underpayment situation, the IRS converts pass-through income to wages and charges FICA and Medicare contributions. For more information, see DLC Course 12: Reasonable Compensation at www.eridlc.com.

Unreasonable Compensation

Unreasonable compensation is a level of compensation for owner-managers that does not meet the requirements of IRC 162(a) for reasonable compensation. This may be either too low a compensation level or too high, depending upon the form of incorporation. In order for the compensation to be considered as a deductible business expense it must (1) be for services rendered and (2) generally be an amount that like enterprises ordinarily would pay for the services under similar circumstances. There are a series of further factors to consider in determining the similarity of the circumstances. Compensation over the maximum leads to the IRS changing wages to a constructive dividend, an action that creates higher corporate taxes plus interest and penalties. In an underpayment situation, the IRS converts pass-through income to wages and charges FICA and Medicare contributions.

Unscheduled Absence

Any unanticipated time lost from work.

Unweighted Mean

A simple arithmetic average of individual means.

Upgrading

To raise to a higher grade or standard. To be associated with salary scales or ranges.

Uplink

In satellite communications, a link from an earth station to an orbiting body.

Upload

Often confused with download, uploading a file means loading it from your computer onto a remote one. Most people do a lot more downloading than uploading.

Upside Potential (Leverage)

A percent of target total compensation or as a multiple of dollars at risk.

Usability

The effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction with which users can achieve tasks in a particular environment of a product. High usability means that a system is easy to learn and remember, efficient, visually pleasing, fun to use and quick to recover from errors.

Usual, Customary And Reasonable (UCR)

Based on the average fee charged by all doctors in a given geographic area. Many insurers pay the (UCR) amount and the balance of any overcharges or costs of any disallowed services are the insured's responsibility.

Usury Laws

Charging of an interest rate that is illegally high.

Utilization Review

The evaluation of medical necessity, efficiency or quality of health cares services, prospectively, concurrently, or retrospectively. The term utilization review is more limited to the physician's diagnosis, treatment and billing amount.

Utilization Review Organization

Independent review organizations, insurance companies or in-house programs providing utilization review services.