Section E · Reference

Domain Context & Glossary

The vocabulary you must speak fluently — Workday, ATS, payroll, leaves, privacy. The terms every interviewer assumes you know cold. Skim once; revisit before each round.

HR systems vocabulary

Term	Definition
HRIS	Human Resource Information System — the system of record for worker data. Workday, BambooHR, ADP Workforce Now, SAP SuccessFactors.
HCM	Human Capital Management — broader category that includes HRIS plus talent, comp, learning.
ATS	Applicant Tracking System — recruiting pipeline software. Ashby, Greenhouse, Lever, Workday Recruiting, iCIMS.
HCM suite	End-to-end platform: HRIS + Talent + Comp + Learning + Recruiting. Workday is the canonical example.
Payroll provider	Distinct from HRIS, often. ADP, Deel, Remote, Workday Payroll, local providers per country.
EOR	Employer of Record — third party that legally employs workers in countries where the parent company doesn't have an entity. Deel, Remote, Velocity Global, Globalization Partners.
PEO	Professional Employer Organization — US co-employment model. ADP TotalSource, Insperity.
IDP	Identity Provider — Okta, Azure AD, Jumpcloud. Source of truth for SSO and access provisioning.
HRBP	HR Business Partner — strategic HR support to a function or leader. Decisions, not transactions.
People Ops / HRKX	The team that runs operations — tickets, transactions, system administration.
TA / Recruiting	Talent Acquisition — separate org, owns hiring funnel.

Workday terms — must-know

Term	Definition
Worker	Unified identity object. Employee or Contingent Worker subtype.
Employee ID	Public-facing worker identifier. Used in external comms.
Worker ID	Internal Workday identifier, often prefixed (e.g. W-12345).
Position	A specific slot in the org — has a position ID, lives in a sup org, can be filled by one Worker.
Job Profile	Template for a kind of job — title, grade, FLSA, comp range. Many workers can share one profile.
Job (Position Assignment)	The instance — worker filling a position with a job profile at an effective date.
Supervisory Organization (sup org)	Org chart node. Has a manager, parent sup org, contains positions/workers.
Business Process (BP)	Workflow — Hire, Terminate, Job Change, Comp Change. Configurable, with routing, conditions, sub-processes.
EIB	Enterprise Interface Builder — bulk integration tool. Inbound (spreadsheet upload to update records) or outbound (scheduled extract).
Calculated Field	Derived value defined in Workday metadata; evaluated in reports, integrations, and BP conditions.
Condition Rule	Boolean expression that skips, branches, or routes BP steps.
Studio	Workday's integration ETL tool — visual transformation pipelines for complex outbound integrations.
Core Connector	Pre-built outbound integration templates — Benefits, Compensation, Payroll, etc.
RaaS	Reports as a Service — expose a custom report as a web-service endpoint.
Prism Analytics	Workday's data-lake extension; ingest external data, blend with Workday, expose for reporting.
Extend	Build custom apps inside the Workday tenant.
Tenant	A Workday environment instance — Production, Sandbox, Implementation, Sandbox Preview.
ISU	Integration System User — service account for programmatic access.
Effective Date	When a change is in force in business terms. The defining feature of Workday's data model.
Change Date / Entered Date	When the change was recorded in the system. Often != effective date (retro or future-dated).
Position Management vs Job Management	Two configurations — Position Management uses explicit position objects; Job Management uses worker-based positions only. Most mature tenants use Position Management.

Ashby / ATS terms

Term	Definition
Job	An open requisition / role at the company.
REQ / Requisition	The internal opening, with budget and approval chain. May map 1:1 to a Job in Ashby.
Candidate	A person known to Ashby; may apply to multiple Jobs.
Application	A candidate's interest in a specific Job. The unit most events attach to.
Stage	Step in the hiring pipeline — Sourced, Screen, Onsite, Offer, Hired, Rejected.
Pipeline	The full configured set of stages for a job.
Offer	Compensation package extended to a candidate; lifecycle: Drafted → Approved → Sent → Accepted / Declined.
Source	How the candidate entered the pipeline — LinkedIn, referral, inbound.
Scorecard	Interviewer's structured assessment after an interview.
Hiring Plan	The Jobs / headcount budgeted for a function or period.

Org concepts

Term	Definition
Cost Center	Finance dimension — where the worker's costs are allocated. Often shared across org changes.
FTE	Full-Time Equivalent — 1.0 for full-time, 0.5 for half-time, etc.
IC vs M / People Manager	Individual Contributor vs Manager. Some companies have a parallel IC track at every level.
Band / Level / Grade	Career-level designation tied to job profile and comp range. P1-P7, M1-M5, etc.
Span of Control	Number of direct reports.
Skip-level	Two layers up; "your skip-level" is your manager's manager.
Dotted line	Informal reporting relationship, in addition to the solid-line manager.
Region	Geographical grouping — AMER, EMEA, APAC.
Headcount Plan	Finance-approved budget for FTEs by org / function / period.

Compensation

Term	Definition
Base salary	Fixed annual or monthly pay.
Variable / Bonus	Annual cash bonus, often performance-tied; may be Target % of base.
Sign-on bonus	One-time at hire; often with clawback if exit before X months.
Equity	Stock options, RSUs, or other equity grants. Vesting schedule.
RSU	Restricted Stock Unit — shares granted, vest over time.
OTE	On-Target Earnings — base + expected variable at 100% achievement.
R-comp / Refresh comp	Equity refresh grant, typically annual.
Comp band	Salary range for a given level / role / geo.
Comp ratio	Worker's salary / band midpoint. 1.0 is "at midpoint."
Merit increase	Annual performance-based base raise.
Promotion increase	Raise upon promotion, distinct from merit.
Geo differential / locality pay	Band adjustment by location.
Severance	Payment at termination, often jurisdictional minimum + company policy.

Worker states & transitions

Term	Definition
Active	Currently employed, not on leave.
On Leave	Employed but on leave-of-absence (LOA).
Terminated	No longer employed. Has a termination date.
Rehired	Previously terminated, hired again. Same Worker ID (in Workday).
Hire	BP that creates a new Worker.
Onboarding	Period between offer accept and start date, or first 30-90 days.
Offboarding	Termination process — checklist, knowledge transfer, access revocation, final pay.
Job Change	BP for promotion, lateral, transfer, FTE change.
Internal Mobility	Worker moves to a new role / team / country internally.
Conversion	Worker type change — contingent ↔ employee.
RTO	Return to Office — RTO mandates / hybrid policy.

Payroll & tax

Term	Definition
Payroll cycle / frequency	Weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly.
Cutoff / Lock	Deadline after which payroll inputs are frozen for a cycle.
Pay date	When workers are paid for a cycle.
Retro / Retroactive	A change effective in a prior period; creates retro pay.
Garnishment	Court-ordered deduction (child support, tax levy).
I-9	US employment eligibility verification form. Section 1 by employee day 1; Section 2 within 3 days.
W-2 / 1099	US tax forms — W-2 for employees, 1099 for contractors.
W-4	US employee tax withholding selection.
P45 / P60	UK end-of-employment / annual tax forms.
Payroll deductions	Taxes, benefits, retirement, garnishments.
Imputed income	Non-cash benefit value that's taxable (e.g. group-term life over threshold).
Final pay	Last paycheck on termination — includes PTO payout, prorated bonus, deductions.

Leaves & absences

Term	Definition
PTO	Paid Time Off — vacation, often a single pooled balance.
Sick leave	Separate pool in some jurisdictions; statutory in others.
LOA	Leave of Absence — formal extended leave, paid or unpaid.
FMLA	US Family and Medical Leave Act — 12 weeks unpaid, job-protected.
Parental leave	Maternity / paternity / adoption — wildly varies by country.
Statutory minimums	Legal minimum leave per country (e.g. 28 days UK annual leave).
Accrual	Rate at which leave balance grows (e.g. 1.5 days/month).
Carryover	Unused balance that rolls into next period; sometimes capped.
Sabbatical	Long-tenure leave benefit (often unpaid or partial).

Privacy & compliance

Term	Definition
PII	Personally Identifiable Information.
Sensitive PI	Subset with extra protection — health, race, religion, biometrics, sexual orientation, govt IDs.
GDPR	EU General Data Protection Regulation.
UK GDPR	Post-Brexit UK version, currently similar to EU GDPR but diverging.
DSAR	Data Subject Access Request — individual's right to know what data you hold.
RTBF / Right to Erasure	Right to deletion; limited in employment context by retention obligations.
SCCs	Standard Contractual Clauses — mechanism for EU → non-EU data transfer.
DPA	Data Processing Agreement — contract between controller and processor.
BCRs	Binding Corporate Rules — intra-group transfer mechanism.
Controller / Processor	Controller decides purpose; Processor processes on behalf.
CCPA / CPRA	California Consumer / Privacy Rights Acts — employee data in scope since 2023.
BIPA	Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act — strict biometric handling.
PDPA	Personal Data Protection Act — Singapore (and similarly named acts elsewhere).
APPI	Japan Act on the Protection of Personal Information.
DPDP Act	India Digital Personal Data Protection Act (2023).

APAC nuance worth knowing

Singapore — MOM (Ministry of Manpower) governs employment; CPF (Central Provident Fund) is statutory contribution. PDPA for privacy.
Japan — strict labor law; termination is difficult; APPI for privacy. Bonus expectations (summer/winter) are normalized.
Australia — Fair Work Act governs; superannuation is statutory; Australia Privacy Act has APP framework.
India — gratuity, EPF, ESIC — statutory contributions; DPDP Act recent; CTC (Cost to Company) is the dominant comp framing.
Hong Kong / China / Taiwan — each different. Don't conflate.
Korea — severance is statutory and substantial after 1 year tenure.

In interview: "I know there's significant variation across APAC; I'd partner with country-specific People and Legal on the rules. Globally I default to 'flag and ask,' not 'extrapolate from US/EU.'"

Abbreviations cheat sheet

Abbr	Expansion
ATS	Applicant Tracking System
BIPA	Biometric Information Privacy Act (Illinois)
BP	Business Process (Workday)
CCPA / CPRA	California Consumer Privacy Act / Rights Act
DEI	Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
DSAR	Data Subject Access Request
EIB	Enterprise Interface Builder (Workday)
EOR	Employer of Record
FLSA	Fair Labor Standards Act (US)
FMLA	Family and Medical Leave Act (US)
FTE	Full-Time Equivalent
GDPR	General Data Protection Regulation
HCM	Human Capital Management
HRBP	HR Business Partner
HRIS	Human Resource Information System
HRKX	HR Knowledge Exchange (People Ops)
I-9	US employment eligibility form
IC	Individual Contributor
ISU	Integration System User (Workday)
LOA	Leave of Absence
MCP	Model Context Protocol
OTE	On-Target Earnings
PII	Personally Identifiable Information
PTO	Paid Time Off
RaaS	Reports as a Service (Workday)
REQ	Requisition
RSU	Restricted Stock Unit
RTO	Return to Office
SCC	Standard Contractual Clauses (GDPR transfer)
SCIM	System for Cross-domain Identity Management
TA	Talent Acquisition

✓ Check yourself

Answer from memory before opening each one.

A vendor asks for the identifier to match a worker in an external system, and a colleague offers the Workday internal ID. Which identifier is meant for external use, and which do your internal joins anchor on?

Show answer
The Employee ID is the public-facing identifier used in external communications, while the internal Worker ID is the stable anchor for internal joins and tool calls. Matching on names or emails is fragile. See Workday terms.
A salary change is entered on 1 May with an effective date of 15 April. Which date drives retro pay, which date tells you when it was recorded, and why does an agent need both?

Show answer
The effective date is when the change applies in business terms and sets the period for retro pay. The entered date is when it was recorded. An agent needs both to see that a past-dated change creates a retro event, which should raise the approval tier. See Payroll & tax.
Your company sends EU employee records to a US-hosted model API. Name the roles and the two documents you expect to find in place.

Show answer
The company is the controller and the model provider is the processor, so there should be a data processing agreement. Because EU data moves to a non-EU service, a transfer mechanism such as Standard Contractual Clauses, or an adequacy decision, must also apply. Without them flag the flow for privacy review. See Privacy & compliance.
A new hire's salary is 1.15 times the band midpoint. What does that mean, and what would you expect an agent to surface before submitting it?

Show answer
A comp ratio of 1.15 means the salary is 15% above midpoint. A condition rule may route it to a higher approver, so the approval preview should say that it will, along with the reason. See Compensation.
Someone asks the agent about severance in Korea, and the agent only has US and EU policy text. What should it do, and what is the general default for APAC?

Show answer
It should not extrapolate from US or EU rules: flag the gap and route to the country's People and Legal contacts. Severance in Korea is statutory and substantial after one year, and each APAC jurisdiction differs, so the default is to flag and ask. See APAC nuance worth knowing.
A contractor through an EOR in Brazil converts to a direct hire. Which kinds of terms in this glossary show up in the workflow, and which team signs off on pay continuity?

Show answer
The EOR relationship ends and a Hire business process creates a worker in the local entity, so worker type, conversion, payroll provider and cutoff terms all appear. Payroll signs off on pay continuity with the HRBP, because that history is manually preserved and the conversion changes tax and legal treatment. See HR systems vocabulary.

Takeaway

Use the right identifier: Employee ID outward, Worker ID inward, and never match people on a name or an email.
Effective date is business time and entered date is system time, and a gap between them signals retro or future-dated changes.
Know the Workday nouns cold: Position, Job Profile, sup org, business process, EIB, calculated field, RaaS and tenant types.
Controller, processor, DPA and transfer mechanisms such as SCCs are the minimum vocabulary for sending employee data to a model API.
Statutory leave, severance and tax forms vary by country, so the agent flags unknowns instead of extrapolating from US or EU rules.
Compensation terms such as band, comp ratio and OTE determine routing and approvals, so an agent should surface them in previews.

With the vocabulary set, test yourself against realistic interviewer questions. → Practice Interview Questions