HiveDesk

Workforce Management Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the scheduling, time tracking, pay, and contact center terms managers use every day. Each entry explains the rule or formula behind the term, works through an example, and cites its sources.

How This Glossary Is Written

Every term is a standalone reference page, not a one-line dictionary entry. Each one gives the definition, the formula or legal rule that applies, a worked example for a contact center team and a remote team, benchmarks with a named source where a reliable one exists, and the month it was last reviewed. Where HiveDesk already has a full guide on a topic, the glossary links to that guide instead of repeating it.

The glossary currently holds sixty terms across six categories, last reviewed in September 2026. Terms are added in small batches and written individually by Vik Chadha, HiveDesk's founder, who has worked with contact center and BPO teams since 2011. Legal definitions are checked against the U.S. Department of Labor and state agency sources; metric definitions and benchmarks are checked against published industry research. Nothing is generated from a template.

Scheduling and Attendance

Terms that come up when building schedules, filling shifts, and tracking who showed up.

Workforce Management

The practice of forecasting demand, scheduling staff to meet it, and tracking whether the plan held up.

Open Shift

A scheduled shift with no one assigned to it yet, published so eligible employees can claim it.

Flextime

A work arrangement where employees choose their start and end times around a set of core hours.

Four-Day Work Week

A schedule that fits a full week of work into four days, either by compressing hours or reducing them.

Rotating Shift

A schedule where employees cycle through different shift times, such as days one week and nights the next.

Split Shift

A single workday broken into two or more blocks with an unpaid gap of more than a meal break between them.

Shift Swap

An exchange of scheduled shifts between two employees, usually subject to manager approval.

No Call, No Show

An absence where the employee neither reports for a scheduled shift nor notifies anyone in advance.

Tardiness

Arriving after a scheduled start time, and how policies define, track, and respond to it.

Clopening

Working a closing shift followed by the opening shift the next morning, and the laws that limit it.

Double Shift

Two consecutive shifts worked back to back, and the pay and rest rules that apply.

Grace Period

A short window after the scheduled start in which a late clock-in is not counted as tardy.

Full guide

First, Second, and Third Shift Hours

The typical hours for each shift, who works them, and how differential pay applies.

Full guide

Swing Shift

The afternoon-to-night shift explained, with typical hours and pay considerations.

Full guide

Graveyard Shift

Overnight work hours, health effects, and how employers compensate for them.

Full guide

Floating Holiday

A paid day off employees take on a date of their choosing, and how to write the policy.

Full guide

Personal Day

Paid time off for reasons that are neither vacation nor sickness, and how it fits a PTO policy.

Full guide

How Many Hours Is Full Time

The 30-hour, 32-hour, and 40-hour thresholds and which one applies for benefits and overtime.

Leave and Absence

Paid and unpaid leave, absence, and the accrual and policy rules behind them.

Sabbatical

An extended leave, paid or unpaid, granted after a period of service, and how employers structure it.

Leave of Absence

Approved time away from work beyond ordinary PTO, whether protected by law or granted by policy.

Absenteeism

Habitual unplanned absence from scheduled work, how to measure it, and what it costs.

Accrued Time Off

Paid leave an employee has earned but not yet used, and how accrual rates and caps work.

Unpaid Time Off

Approved leave without pay, when employers grant it, and how it affects benefits and exempt status.

Bereavement Leave

Time off after the death of a family member, and where state law requires employers to provide it.

Full guide

What Is PTO

Paid time off explained: accrual, banks, payout, and how it differs from vacation and sick leave.

Full guide

Unlimited PTO

How unlimited policies work in practice, what the data says about usage, and how to write one.

Full guide

PTO Payout Laws by State

Which states require unused vacation to be paid out at separation.

Full guide

Paid Sick Leave Laws in the US

Which states and cities require paid sick leave, with accrual rates and caps.

Full guide

PTO Accrual Calculator

Work out how much paid time off an employee has earned from the accrual rate and hours worked.

Timekeeping and Hours

What counts as work time, how it is recorded and rounded, and the FLSA rules on hours.

Hours Worked

The time an employer must count and pay for under the FLSA, including travel, training, and on-call time.

Workweek

The fixed, recurring 168-hour period that overtime is calculated against under federal law.

Idle Time

Paid time when an employee is available but not working, and how tracking tools measure it.

Billable Hours

Time that can be invoiced to a client, and how utilization is calculated from it.

Timekeeping

The system for recording hours worked, and the records the FLSA requires employers to keep.

Time Clock Rounding

Rounding punches to the nearest increment, and the FLSA rules that keep it neutral.

De Minimis Rule

The FLSA doctrine that lets employers disregard trivial amounts of work time, and its narrow limits.

On-Call Pay

When time spent waiting to be called in must be paid, and how employers compensate standby time.

Straight Time

Pay at the regular hourly rate for hours that do not qualify for overtime.

Banked Hours

Extra hours saved for later time off instead of paid out, and where the practice is legal.

Comp Time

Paid time off given instead of overtime pay, and why the FLSA limits it to public employers.

Wage Theft

Any failure to pay wages owed, from unpaid overtime to illegal deductions, and how to prevent it.

Furlough

A mandatory unpaid leave that keeps the employment relationship intact, compared with a layoff.

Full guide

Time and a Half Calculator

Work out overtime pay at one and a half times the regular rate for any hours and wage.

Full guide

Buddy Punching

One employee clocking in for another, and the controls that stop it.

Pay and Overtime

How recorded hours turn into pay: overtime rates, premiums, pay schedules, and corrections.

Double Time

Pay at twice the regular rate, which states and contracts require it, and when it kicks in.

Regular Rate of Pay

The hourly rate overtime is based on once bonuses, commissions, and differentials are included.

Overtime Premium

The extra half-time portion of overtime pay, and how it differs from the full overtime rate.

Salaried Non-Exempt

Employees paid a salary who are still owed overtime, and how their overtime rate is calculated.

Prorated Salary

Pay reduced in proportion to a partial period worked, with the formulas for daily and hourly proration.

Retro Pay

Wages owed for past periods after a raise, correction, or rate change takes effect late.

Back Pay

Wages an employee should have received but did not, and how it is recovered.

Semi-Monthly Pay

The 24-paycheck schedule, how it differs from biweekly, and how hourly pay is handled on it.

Net Pay

Take-home pay after taxes and deductions, with the steps from gross to net.

Hazard Pay

Extra pay for dangerous or unpleasant work, and whether any law requires it.

Full guide

Holiday Pay

What the law requires on holidays, how premium rates work, and how to write the policy.

Full guide

Gross Pay

Total earnings before deductions, with formulas for hourly and salaried employees.

Full guide

Biweekly Pay

The 26-paycheck schedule, how it compares with semimonthly, and the three-paycheck months.

Full guide

Per Diem

Daily allowances for travel expenses and the federal rates that make them non-taxable.

Full guide

Shift Differential Pay

Extra pay for evening, night, and weekend shifts, with typical rates and how it affects overtime.

Full guide

Exempt vs Non-Exempt Employees

The salary and duties tests that decide who is owed overtime under the FLSA.

Full guide

Time Theft

How employees get paid for time not worked, what it costs, and how to prevent it.

Contact Center Metrics

The staffing and performance metrics contact centers and BPOs report on, with formulas and benchmarks.

Schedule Adherence

The share of scheduled time an agent actually spends in the scheduled state, with the formula and targets.

Shrinkage

The share of paid time agents are not available to handle contacts, and how to plan staffing around it.

Occupancy Rate

The share of logged-in time agents spend handling contacts rather than waiting for one.

Average Handle Time

Talk time plus hold time plus after-call work, averaged across contacts, with benchmarks by channel.

Service Level

The percentage of contacts answered within a target time, such as 80 percent in 20 seconds.

First Call Resolution

The share of contacts resolved without a follow-up, and how to measure it consistently.

Utilization Rate

Productive or billable hours as a share of available hours, for agents and for professional services teams.

Capacity Planning

Matching staff hours to forecast workload over weeks and months so service targets hold at the lowest cost.

Forecast Accuracy

How close predicted contact volume came to actual volume, with the formulas and typical targets.

Abandon Rate

The share of callers who hang up before reaching an agent, and what drives it.

Average Speed of Answer

The mean time callers wait before an agent picks up, and how it relates to service level.

Full guide

Erlang C Calculator

Work out how many agents you need to hit a service level target from call volume and handle time.

Full guide

FTE Calculator

Convert headcount and hours into full-time equivalents for staffing plans and budgets.

Full guide

Call Centre KPI Calculation

Formulas and worked examples for the metrics most contact centers report on.

HR and Employment

Employment terms managers meet when hiring, retaining, and separating from staff.

Attrition Rate

The share of employees who leave over a period, with the formula and typical rates for contact centers.

At-Will Employment

The default US rule that either party can end employment at any time, and the exceptions to it.

Presenteeism

Working while unwell or disengaged, why it costs more than absenteeism, and how to spot it.

Onboarding

The process of bringing a new hire from offer to full productivity, and what a good program covers.

Offboarding

The steps that close out an employee’s departure, from access removal to final pay.

Headcount

The number of people employed, how it differs from FTE, and how it is used in planning.

Span of Control

How many direct reports a manager has, and the ranges that work for contact centers and remote teams.

Moonlighting

Holding a second job alongside primary employment, and what employers can and cannot restrict.

Full guide

PTO Request Form Template

A downloadable request form with an approval workflow for small teams.

Full guide

US Labor Law Compliance

Minimum wage, overtime, breaks, and leave rules for all 50 states and DC.

All Terms A to Z

Every glossary entry in alphabetical order.

Frequently Asked Questions

It covers the vocabulary managers meet when scheduling staff, tracking hours, running payroll, and reporting on contact center performance. Each entry is a standalone reference page with a definition, the formula or legal rule behind the term, a worked example for a contact center or remote team, and links to related terms and deeper guides. Where HiveDesk already has a full guide on a topic, the glossary links to it rather than repeating it.

Every entry shows the month it was last reviewed. Terms tied to federal or state law, such as hours worked, comp time, and bereavement leave, are checked against the Department of Labor and state agency sources each January and whenever a rule changes. Metric definitions and benchmarks are re-checked when the industry sources they cite publish new figures.

Benchmarks are quoted only where a named source publishes them, such as an industry survey, a vendor research report, or a government dataset, and each page links to that source. When sources disagree, the entry gives the range and says who reported what. Entries do not invent targets, and they say when no reliable benchmark exists.

Use the contact page to send the term you were looking for, or the entry and sentence you believe is wrong, with a source if you have one. Terms are added in small batches and written individually, so a suggested term will not appear overnight, but corrections to an existing entry are made as soon as they are confirmed.

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