62 HR, payroll and payments terms explained simply, searchable, A to Z.
Looking up a deadline? Get every Nigeria and Kenya payroll due date in your work calendar.
Get the 2026 calendar →An extra month's salary many Nigerian employers pay in December. It is taxable income and must go through PAYE like regular pay.
A login that needs two proofs, usually a password plus a code on your phone, so a stolen password alone can't open an account.
A review where feedback comes from all around a person: their manager, peers, direct reports and sometimes customers, not just the boss.
A simple talent map that plots each employee by performance and potential, helping leaders spot stars, solid performers and people who need support.
A Kenyan statutory contribution of 1.5% of gross salary from the employee, matched by 1.5% from the employer, remitted monthly.
HR software where AI agents complete whole tasks (running payroll, answering staff questions, filing approvals) rather than just assisting a human who does the work.
Software given an outcome, not a script. It works out the steps, uses the systems it's permitted to touch, and reports back, with humans approving anything important.
AI that watches your data for things that don't fit the pattern, like a salary suddenly doubling, and flags them before they become mistakes.
The system that manages job applications: posting roles, tracking candidates by stage, scheduling interviews and recording decisions.
The rate at which people leave your company. 'Regrettable attrition' counts only the people you wanted to keep.
A tamper-evident record of who did what, when, in a system. Essential for compliance and for trusting AI agents.
A biometric identity number for Nigerian bank customers. Used in KYC checks to confirm someone is who they claim to be.
A clear list of the skills and behaviours each role needs, at each level: the backbone of fair reviews, promotions and learning plans.
The legal test of whether a worker is truly a contractor or actually an employee. Getting it wrong creates tax and labour liabilities.
A company that legally employs staff on your behalf in a country where you have no entity, handling contracts, payroll and compliance.
Letting employees handle their own HR basics (payslips, leave requests, personal details) from their phone, without emailing HR.
Letting staff withdraw part of the salary they have already earned before payday, reconciled automatically at the payroll run. Not a loan.
An employee showing signals they may resign soon: disengagement, stalled goals, skipped check-ins. Modern systems flag this early.
The European Union's data-protection law. It sets strict rules for handling personal data and applies to any company processing EU residents' data.
Sending payroll results into your accounting system's General Ledger so finance books match what was actually paid.
The payroll calculation that starts from gross salary and applies taxes, pensions, levies and deductions to arrive at take-home pay.
The limits placed on an AI agent: what data it may see, what actions it may take, and what always requires human approval.
The number of people employed, tracked by team, location and type. The starting point of every workforce plan and budget.
Human Resource Management System. The system of record for everything about your people: profiles, pay, leave, performance and documents.
A design rule where AI prepares the work but a person approves it before anything important happens: money moving, records changing.
The international standard for information security management. Certification means an independent auditor verified how a company protects data.
A Nigerian employer contribution of 1% of annual payroll that funds industrial training, payable by qualifying employers.
Kenya's tax authority. Employers file and remit PAYE and other statutory deductions to KRA, mostly through its iTax portal.
Identity checks (documents, biometrics, watchlists) that confirm a person is real and permitted before money moves or employment starts.
How leave days build up over time worked (for example, 1.75 days per month) rather than arriving as a lump at year start.
The system for delivering and tracking training: courses, learning paths, quizzes, certificates and completion reports.
Kenya's dominant mobile-money service. For payroll, it means salaries can land on any phone instantly, no bank account needed.
Money held and moved through a phone-based wallet rather than a bank account. The default financial rail for millions across Africa.
Letting managers act directly (approving leave, viewing team data, starting reviews) without routing everything through HR.
The Nigeria Data Protection Regulation: Nigeria's data-privacy rules for how organizations collect, store and process personal data.
Take-home pay: what remains after every tax, pension and deduction has been applied to gross salary.
A Nigerian statutory saving of 2.5% of basic salary, deducted from employees and remitted to the Federal Mortgage Bank.
Nigeria's national identity number, used to verify identity in hiring, banking and KYC checks.
Nigeria's federal tax authority (successor to FIRS) following the tax reform acts: the destination for federal tax filings.
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund. Employers contribute 1% of payroll to fund employee compensation for workplace injuries.
Kenya's pension scheme. Employees and employers each contribute 6% of pensionable earnings, up to tiered limits that step up over time.
A payroll run outside the normal monthly cycle: for a correction, a termination settlement, or an urgent one-off payment.
The structured exit process: final settlement, asset return, access revocation and knowledge handover when someone leaves.
Objectives and Key Results: a goal-setting method where a clear objective is paired with measurable results, cascaded so teams pull together.
Everything between 'offer accepted' and 'fully productive': documents, accounts, training, introductions, ideally automated into a checklist.
The live map of who reports to whom. In a modern HRMS it updates itself as people join, move and leave.
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System: infrastructure that lets money move between African countries quickly in local currencies.
Income tax deducted from each employee's salary by the employer and remitted monthly: in Nigeria to the employee's state tax authority, in Kenya to KRA.
The statement showing an employee's gross pay, every deduction, and net pay for a period. Digital payslips beat paper in every way.
Nigeria's National Pension Commission, regulator of the contributory pension scheme: 8% from the employee and 10% from the employer, remitted within 7 days of payday.
Managing roles (positions) separately from the people in them, so vacancies, budgets and org design stay accurate through changes.
A defined trial period at the start of employment with lighter termination terms and a formal confirmation review at the end.
Granting system access by role, not by person: a payroll officer sees payroll; a line manager sees only their team.
Back-dated pay owed when a change (like a raise) applies to periods already paid, calculated and taxed correctly in a later run.
The individual pension account each Nigerian employee holds with a Pension Fund Administrator, receiving monthly contributions.
Kenya's health insurance contribution, 2.75% of gross salary, administered by the Social Health Authority (SHA), successor to NHIF.
An independent audit that verifies a company's security controls actually operated effectively over a period of months, not just on paper.
One corporate login (via SAML/OIDC) that opens all approved apps: fewer passwords, faster offboarding, tighter control.
Deciding in advance who could step into key roles, and preparing them, so a resignation is a plan, not a crisis.
A saved group of promising candidates, such as past applicants and referrals, you can approach first when a role opens.
How many days from opening a role to an accepted offer. The cleanest measure of recruiting speed.
See Attrition: the pace at which employees leave and must be replaced, usually expressed annually.
Xceed365HR keeps Nigeria and Kenya statutory rules built in and up to date, so your team doesn't have to be a glossary.