Glossary for employers
Staffing uses a number of terms that are easily confused or understood inconsistently. This glossary explains the key ones from recruitment, team stability, onboarding and cost, briefly and plainly, so that an employer can use them unambiguously. Where a term also has a legal dimension, the entry says so and leaves the binding detail to the regulation itself. The definitions are simplified for orientation and do not replace the binding wording of any regulation or an individual assessment; specific conditions can change and are worth verifying with the relevant authority.
Recruitment and capacity
These terms concern the recruiting of workers and the planning of capacity.
The choice an employer makes here is chiefly between employing the person directly and using an agency. In agency employment the worker stays an employee of the agency and does the work at the user company to which they are temporarily assigned, and the agency must hold a valid employment-mediation permit.
- Hiring on your own, without an agency — the company finds and employs the worker itself.
- Agency employment — the worker is an employee of the agency and is temporarily assigned to a user company.
- Temporary assignment — the assignment of an agency worker to a user company for an agreed period.
- Recruitment planning — anticipating the need for people and its timing.
- Sourcing — searching for and approaching candidates through a range of channels.
Team stability and starting
These terms concern keeping people and bringing them into the company.
The pair most often confused is turnover and retention, which the entries below separate. Reducing turnover and retention complement each other.
- Turnover — the rate at which employees leave and are replaced.
- Retention — the systematic keeping of employees.
- Onboarding — the process of joining and the first days of a new employee.
- Adaptation — the longer settling-in over the first weeks and months.
Cost
These terms concern the price of labour. No amounts are stated here.
- The true cost of an employee — the total cost above the gross wage.
- Indirect costs — items outside wage and contributions: recruitment, onboarding, turnover.
- Opportunity cost — the loss from a position that is unfilled or not performing.
- Statutory employer contributions — the insurance paid by the employer; for the rates, see the official sources.
Is this glossary binding?
No. The definitions are simplified for orientation and do not replace the binding wording of regulations. Verify specific conditions with the relevant authority.
Employer FAQ The questions these terms usually come up in.