Compensation & Billing

Accelerated vesting is a plan provision that lets unvested shares or units vest early, triggered by an acquisition or…

An agency fee is the payment a recruitment agency charges a client for placing a candidate, usually a percentage of the…

Base salary is the fixed annual or hourly compensation an employee receives, before bonuses, commissions, benefits, or…

A benefits package is the non-salary part of a total compensation offer, including health insurance, retirement…

Benefits-in-kind (BIK) are non-cash forms of employee pay on top of salary, such as company cars or private health…

A bill rate is the hourly or daily rate that a staffing agency charges a client for a contractor's services. The bill…

A blended rate is a single averaged bill rate that covers a mix of workers at different individual rates — used in…

Burden cost is the total of mandatory and discretionary employer expenses layered on top of base pay, making total…

Burden rate is the total cost of employing a worker beyond their base pay — including employer payroll taxes, health…

A clawback is a contract clause under which a recruitment agency refunds all or part of a placement fee if the placed…

Cliff vesting is a schedule where an employee owns none of a benefit, such as equity or pension contributions, until a…

Commission is a variable pay component earned when a recruiter or sales person achieves a defined outcome — a permanent…

Compa-ratio (comparative ratio) measures where an employee's salary sits relative to the midpoint of their pay band —…

Compensation bands (also called pay bands or salary bands) are defined salary ranges for a job level or role — with a…

A contingency fee is a recruitment payment model where the agency is paid only when a candidate is successfully placed,…

A conversion fee, also called a temp-to-perm or transfer fee, is what an agency charges when a client hires one of its…

Cost-plus pricing in staffing is a billing model where the client pays the worker's actual employment cost — pay rate…

Salary benchmarking is comparing a role's pay with market rates, so agencies and clients can close expectation gaps…

Draw against commission is an advance on future commission paid each pay period and repaid from placement earnings,…

An ESOP, or Employee Stock Ownership Plan, is a US retirement plan where a company funds a trust that holds its shares…

Equity compensation is non-cash pay giving employees an ownership stake in the company, typically through stock…

Expense reimbursement is repayment of business costs a contractor or employee incurs, under agreed terms on eligible…

Fringe benefits are non-wage compensation employers add on top of salary, from health insurance and pensions to perks,…

Graded vesting is a schedule where ownership of employer retirement contributions or equity grants builds in steps over…

Gross margin in staffing is the difference between the bill rate charged to a client and the total cost of employing…

Gross profit is the revenue a staffing agency keeps after deducting the direct cost of the placed worker, mainly pay…

Hit rate is the percentage of submitted candidates who reach shortlist, interview, or placement, a measure of how well…

An invoice is the document a staffing firm issues to bill a client for placement fees or contractor hours, and its…

Invoice factoring is selling unpaid client invoices to a finance company at a discount for immediate cash, helping…

A long-term incentive plan (LTIP) is an executive pay scheme of shares or similar awards that vest over time, which can…

Loaded rate is the full hourly cost of a temporary worker, including employer-side costs on top of base pay, used to…

Markup in staffing is the percentage added to a contractor's pay rate to calculate the bill rate charged to the client.…

On-target earnings (OTE) is the total compensation a salesperson or recruiter earns when they hit 100% of their quota —…

Pay equity is the principle that employees performing equal work of equal value should receive equal compensation…

A pay rate is the hourly or daily rate a contractor or temporary worker receives from the staffing agency for their…

Pay transparency is the practice of publishing salary ranges in job postings, so candidates and clients align on pay…

Per diem is a fixed daily allowance paid to workers for meals, accommodation, and incidentals while working away from…

A performance bonus is a reward paid for hitting targets, such as a recruiter's billings goal, designed to motivate…

Placement rate is a performance metric, expressed as a percentage, that shows how often a recruitment process converts…

A rate card is a pre-negotiated schedule of bill rates for defined job categories, skill levels, and locations used in…

A rebate policy is the contract clause setting when, and how much of, a permanent placement fee an agency refunds or…

A restricted stock unit (RSU) is a company's promise to deliver shares to an employee after a vesting period,…

A retainer fee is an upfront payment a client makes to an agency for a search, committing the client's money and the…

A retention bonus is a payment promised to an employee for staying through a set period, often used in restructuring,…

Revenue per placement is the average fee or margin an agency earns on each placement, showing commercial performance…

Rogue spend is contingent workforce spend that bypasses the approved vendor management system, such as using agencies…

A salary band is the minimum and maximum pay set for a role or grade, keeping people doing the same work within a…

A signing bonus is a one-time payment made to a new employee at the start of employment, typically used to attract…

A split fee is an arrangement where two recruiters collaborate on a placement and divide the fee, typically 50/50,…

Spread in staffing is the dollar difference between the bill rate charged to a client and the pay rate received by the…

A stipend is a fixed periodic payment covering specific costs a worker incurs, such as housing, per diem or home…

Stock options give the holder the right to buy company shares at a fixed strike price set at the fair market value on…

In UK contracting, a strike price is the minimum rate a contractor will accept; in equity pay, it is the fixed price at…

Submittal-to-hire ratio is the number of candidate submittals needed to produce one hire, capturing the whole funnel…

A timesheet is a record of hours worked by an individual, used as the basis for billing clients and paying workers in…

Total compensation is the full monetary value of everything an employee receives in exchange for their work — including…

A total compensation statement is a document that itemizes every form of pay an employee receives beyond base salary,…

Total rewards is the full scope of what an employer offers for work: base salary, variable pay, benefits, equity,…

Variable pay is any compensation element that fluctuates based on individual, team, or company performance — including…

Vesting is the process by which an employee earns the right to employer-contributed assets, such as stock options or…