| Sabbatical leave: Paid time off the job to develop and rejuvenate oneself. |
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| Safety: Condition in which the physical well-being of people is protected. |
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| Salaries: Payments that are consistent from period to period despite the number of hours worked. |
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| Salting: Practice in which unions hire and pay people to apply for jobs at certain companies; when the people are hired, they begin union organizing efforts. |
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| Secondary research: Research method using data already gathered by others and reported in books, articles in professional journals, or other sources. |
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| Security: Protection of employer facilities and equipment from unauthorized access and protection of employees while on work premises or work assignments. |
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| Security audit: A review of the security vulnerability in an organization. |
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| Selection: The process of choosing individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organization. |
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| Selection criteria: Characteristics that a person must have to do the job successfully. |
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| Selection interview: Interview designed to identify information on a candidate and clarify information from other sources. |
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| Self-directed work team: An organizational team composed of individuals who are assigned a cluster of tasks, duties, and responsibilities to be accomplished. |
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| Separation agreement: Agreement in which an employee who is being terminated agrees not to sue the employer in exchange for specified benefits. |
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| Serious health condition: A health condition requiring inpatient, hospital, hospice, or residential medical care or continuing physician care. |
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| Severance pay: A security benefit voluntarily offered by employers to employees who lose their jobs. |
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| Sexual harassment: Actions that are sexually directed, are unwanted, and subject the worker to adverse employment conditions or create a hostile work environment. |
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| Shamrock team: An organizational team composed of a core of members, resource experts who join the team as appropriate, and part-time/temporary members as needed. |
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| Silver parachute: A severance and benefits plan to protect nonexecutives if their firms are acquired by other firms. |
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| Simulation: A development technique that requires participants to analyze a situation and decide the best course of action based on the data given. |
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| Situational interview: A structured interview composed of questions about how applicants might handle specific job situations. |
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| Skill variety: The extent to which the work requires several different activities for successful completion. |
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| Spaced practice: Several practice sessions spaced over a period of hours or days. |
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| Special-purpose team: An organizational team that is formed to address specific problems and may continue to work together to improve work processes or the quality of products and services. |
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| Statutory rights: Rights based on laws. |
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| Stock option: A plan that gives an individual the right to buy stock in a company, usually at a fixed price for a period of time. |
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| Straight piece-rate system: A pay system in which wages are determined by multiplying the number of units produced by the piece rate for one unit. |
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| Strategic planning: The process of identifying organizational objectives and the actions needed to achieve those objectives. |
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| Stress interview: Interview designed to create anxiety and put pressure on an applicant to see how the person responds. |
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| Strike: Work stoppage in which union members refuse to work in order to put pressure on an employer. |
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| Structured interview: Interview that uses a set of standardized questions asked from all job applicants. |
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| Substance abuse: The use of illicit substances or the misuse of controlled substances, alcohol, or other drugs. |
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| Suggestion system: A formal method of obtaining employee input and upward communication. |
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| SWOT analysis: Examines the strengths and weaknesses of the organization internally and opportunities and threats externally. |
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