Compensation Glossary
Welcome to ERI SalaryExpert's compensation glossary, your resource for commonly used terms, formulas, and phrases related to compensation.
Primary Duty
The principal, main, major, or most important duty that the employee performs. Determination of an employee’s primary duty must be based on all the facts in a particular case, with the major emphasis on the character of the employee’s job as a whole. Factors to consider when determining the primary duty of an employee include, but are not limited to, the relative importance of the exempt duties as compared with other types of duties; the amount of time spent performing exempt work; the employee’s relative freedom from direct supervision; and the relationship between the employee’s salary and the salary paid to other employees for the kind of nonexempt work performed by the employee. (FLSA Section 541.700)
Popular Searches
Long-Term Incentive Plan
Range Penetration
Green Circle Rate
Lag the Market
Mean
Job Family
Lead-Lag Pay Structure Policy
Coefficient of Determination
Standard Error of Estimate
Annual Incentive
Linear Regression
Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
General Salary Increase
Bonus
Cost of Living
Hours of Work
Demotion
Lump Sum Merit
Salary Range
Market Based Salary Increase Budget
Promotional Increase
Year of Service
Works Council
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
FICA
Aging Survey Data
Standard Deviation
Pay Range Overlap
Sales Compensation
Stock Option Incentive
Job Evaluation
Mode
Salary Grade
Range
Pay Grade
Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
Geographic Differential
Median
Cost of Labor
Benchmark Job
Turnover
Lead Pay Structure Policy
Midpoint Progression
Benchmarking
Market Pricing
Shift Differentials
Step Rates
Percentile
Gender Pay Gap
Total Rewards
Minimum Wage
Market Index
Broadbanding
Compensable Factors
Mix
Defined Benefit Plans
Compa-Ratio
Black-Scholes Model Z
Merit Increase
Salary Structure Change
Red Circle Rate
Restricted Stock
Quartile
Defined Contribution Plans
Range Spread
Pay Equity
Internal Equity
Featured White Paper
Common Compensation Terms and Formulas - January 2026
Find commonly used compensation terms and formulas for your reference when planning compensation.
Ready to Streamline Your Compensation Strategy with Us?
Discover how our Assessor Platform can help you attract top talent, stay on top of market trends, and set your organization up for success, all in one platform.
Try a Free Demo
White Papers
Insights on Compensation
About Us
ERI SalaryExpert was launched in 2000 by ERI Economic Research Institute to help organizations and individuals optimize salary planning. Our robust compensation management solution houses the global salary survey data and applications needed to design competitive and effective compensation structures. From benchmarking with reliable market data to analyzing geographic differentials and conducting pay equity analyses, our intelligent platform is an innovative way of merging integral salary survey data with efficient features, all in one system.
Learn More
Featured White Paper
Common Compensation Terms and Formulas - January 2026
Find commonly used compensation terms and formulas for your reference when planning compensation.
Ready to Streamline Your Compensation Strategy with Us?
Discover how our Assessor Platform can help you attract top talent, stay on top of market trends, and set your organization up for success, all in one platform.
Try a Free Demo
About Us
ERI SalaryExpert was launched in 2000 by ERI Economic Research Institute to help organizations and individuals optimize salary planning. Our robust compensation management solution houses the global salary survey data and applications needed to design competitive and effective compensation structures. From benchmarking with reliable market data to analyzing geographic differentials and conducting pay equity analyses, our intelligent platform is an innovative way of merging integral salary survey data with efficient features, all in one system.
Learn More