**GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND DEFINITIONS**

**SECTION I. ABBREVIATIONS**

**Abbreviation Meaning**

AQL Acceptable Quality Level

APW Active Pending Workload

AMH Available GOE Man-Hours

BW Base Weights\]

C&P Compensation and Pension

DIC Dependency and Indemnity Compensation

EP End Product

FTEE Full-time Equivalent Employment\]

GOE General Operating Expense

LCL Lower Control Limit

MH Man-Hours

MAL Minimum Acceptable Level

SMH Standard Man-Hours

SQC Statistical Quality Control

UCL Upper Control Limit

UMH Unmeasured Man-Hours

WRS Work-Rate Standard

WS Work Sampling

**SECTION II. WORDS AND PHRASES**

**A**

**Acceptable Quality Level**-The fraction defective, percent in error,
or number of errors per 100 items or work units that, for a given
activity, work process or population, has been administratively
determined to be acceptable or tolerable.

**Accuracy**-Correctness, propriety, freedom from error.

**Active Pending Workload**-The number of end products which are ready
to be processed but not completely processed at the close of the report
period. This comprises only work which could be acted upon if there were
sufficient time or personnel for its processing.

**Actual Hours, Actual Time-**Time taken to complete a specific amount
of work. (See also \"Raw Time\".)

**Automated Management Information System (AMIS)**-A generalized system
of computer programs for processing VA management reports.

**B**

**Base Weights**-Paid available direct labor GOE employees (FTEE)
(excludes non-GOE employees) associated with a given end product in the
base period divided by the associated end products (in thousands)
completed in the base period-\]

**Borrowed Time**-Hours borrowed from another activity, section,
division, or station.

**C**

**Classification Code**-The numerical designation of the end product
which will be involved when there has been a final disposition of the
claim or issue.

**Claim**-As used in this manual, it has the same connotation as
intended by VA regulations and procedural instructions.

**Claims and Issues**-A composite phrase to include both direct claims
for benefits by veterans or dependents and adjudicative
actions,-generated by other than a specific-type claim.

**Claims Processing Time-**The elapsed calendar days between date of
receipt of claim to the date of final disposition.

**Clerical Indirect Labor, Clerical Overhead**-Man-hours spent in
activities involving secretarial duties or general adminis­trative
clerical duties below the GS-7 level in support of full time management
and supervisory positions, not covered by work rate standards.

**Compliance-** Conformance with mandatory administrative issues.

**Control**-Any aspect of operations wherein action is required by any
VA publication, or reasonable judgment would dictate a specific course
of action to assure proper and timely disposition of a claim, issue or
document.

**Control Limit (SQC)**-The control limits used in Adjudication
statistical quality control activities mark off three standard
deviations above and below the (presumed) process average (underlying
percent in error of the sampled population) and, in accordance with the
assumption of an approximately normal distribution of the sampling
error, should, therefore, in­clude about 99.7 percent of the sample
statistics derived from a large number of successive samples of the
approximate fixed size.

**Control Time**- The elapsed calendar days between date of receipt of
claim to the date of claims establishment in the Benefits Delivery
Network (BDN).

**Cost Center** - The functional or organizational unit in which
responsibility for achievement can be placed and for which applied costs
are segregated.

**D**

**Decimal Hour**-Manner of expressing minutes as a decimal fraction of
an hour. For example, the decimal hour equivalent of 16.25 minutes is
.2708, obtained by dividing the minutes by 60; i.e., 16.25 minutes x

1 hour/ 60 minutes = .2708 hour.

**Direct Labo**r-Man-hours spent in activities usually associated with
the output of established end products or services; i.e., available GOE
man-hours minus leave, supervision, clerical overhead, and excluded
hours. Direct labor is classified as either measured or unmeasured.

**E**

**Employment Factor- Office of Chief-** A conversion factor to convert
the total direct labor weighted output to the total indirect labor
weighted output for a division and consists of the indirect labor (FTEE)
divided by the direct labor (FTEE) in the base period.\]

**End Product**-Final results of the efforts by one or more workers in
accomplishing the activities inherent to an operation. (See also \"Work
Unit\".)

**Error**-When applied to an individual work unit, an error is any
nonconformance of the work unit with specified require­ments. As commonly
used in our administrative issues for purposes of quality review,
analysis and appraisal, \"error\" denotes nonconformance with
substantive requirements identified as substantive errors; other areas
of nonconformance are referred to as \[\"Material\] Deficiencies,\" or
\"Procedural Discrepancies\" (see definitions below).

**F**

**Final Disposition**-The adjudicative disposition of a claim or issue
which discharges the responsibility of the Adjudication Division as to
such claim or issue. Death of claimant is considered final disposition
of an issue when such death obviates the need for further action
thereon.

**Final Processing**-That processing period in the Adjudication Division
which results in a final disposition of an issue and the recordation of
an end product upon release of the folder from the division.

**Folder**-The term \"folder\" (when used without any category
identification) includes claims folders, XC-folders, and lightweight XC
folders.

**Full-Time Equivalent Employment (FTEE)**-Paid GOE hours from the PAID
system on a biweekly cycle, divided by eight times the number of regular
paid days in the report period. PAID GOE FTEE and PAID GOE employees
(FTE) are the same.

**G**

**Goal**- a measure (objective) toward which an endeavor is directed.

**I**

**Incremental Processing Time**- the elapsed calendar days it takes each
activity to process a claim.

**Index Number**-The name used for a term in a time series expressed as
a relative. Indirect Labor-Man-hours devoted to the general overall
operation of an office, and not directly associated with the output of
established end products or services. Indirect labor is classified as
either supervision or clerical overhead.

**Initial Processing**-That processing period when the folder is in the
division because of the receipt of a new claim or issue and this
processing represents the first time action has been taken in connection
with such issue.

**Intensity**-A measure of quality of service rendered or degree of care
given beneficiaries which can be used when measure of quality or
quantity is otherwise restricted to subjective judgment.

**Interim Disposition**-A current handling which temporarily disposes of
the issue as far as processing in the Adjudication Division is concerned
but such handling does not result in a final disposition.

**Intermediate Processing**-That processing period representing current
action in the Adjudication Division when the issue had previously been
handled for initial processing of the same issue, returned to file in an
interim status and is now in the division for additional action.

**Issue**-Any action necessitating an adjudicative process, decision or
service regarding benefits administered by VA.

**L**

**Loaned Time**-Hours loaned to another activity, section, division, or
station.

**Lower Control Limit**-See \"Control Limit (SQC).\"

**M**

**Man-Hour**-Unit of time for measuring work, equivalent to one person
working for 1 hour.

**Material Deficiency**-An action or failure to take action, which is
not so erroneous as to be considered a substantive error, but is
reflective of a material deficiency in application of pertinent laws and
regulations. A material deficiency usually exists whenever a different
action would be more tenable.

**Measured Man-Hours**-Available GOE man-hours minus leave, supervision,
clerical overhead, unmeasured man-hours, and excluded hours.

**Measured Work**-Direct labor activities performed for which work-rate
standards are established.

**Minimum Acceptable Level**-See \"Acceptable Quality Level.\"

N

**Non-GOE Man-Hours**-Man-hours of special employment program enrollees
whose wages or salaries are not paid from Agency GOE appropriations.

**P**

**Paid GOE Employees (Full-Time Equivalent)**-Paid GOE man-hours divided
by number of regular paid days in the report period times eight (hours
per day) rounded to one decimal place. Example for March 1976: 9,500
paid GOE man-hours / \[160 (20 x 8) = 59.4\] GOE Employees (FTE).

**Paid GOE Man-Hours**-Paid GOE man-hours include full-time, part time,
intermittent, and special employment pro­gram employees whose wages or
salaries are paid from Agency GOE appropriations. Excludes all LWOP,
AWOL, and nonpay hours (NPAL, WOL, WOP, and N/P columns of VA Form
4-5631).

**Pending Index**-A percentage derived by dividing the number of issues
pending by the number received during a period.

**Pending End Product**-A claim or issue on which final action has not
been completed. The classification code identified refers to the end
product work unit to be recorded when final disposition action has been
taken.

**Pending Issue**-See \"Pending End Product.\"

**Procedural Discrepancy**-An action or failure to take an action
essentially procedural in nature when the discrepancy in­volved is not of
such a nature that substantive benefits have been or would likely be
affected.

**Q**

**Quality Control**-A systematic approach to determining whether quality
is being maintained at an acceptable level and determining when action
to improve quality is necessary.

**Quality Review**-Quality review is the process of measuring,
examining, testing, or otherwise comparing work performed with
applicable requirements.

**Quality Standard**-A numerical or adjective expression of the level of
quality desired. Quality may be expressed in one or more of the
following terms-accuracy, timeliness, compliance, condition, and
intensity.

**R**

**Raw Time**-Time spent exclusively on actions that are part of a work
process exclusive of allowances. (See also \"Actual Hours\".)

**S**

**Sample Size**-The number of units in the sample.

**Staffing Ratio**-The ratio of employees to other factors, such as
workloads, other employees, or veterans.

**Standard**-The yardstick or criterion which serves for comparison or
measurement purposes. It may be expressed as a unit cost, work rate,
error rate, elapsed time, staffing ratio, or operating plan expressed in
numerical or descriptive form.

**Standard Cost**-The expected or planned cost of a work unit, function,
service, or end product.

**Standard Man-Hours**-Number of work units completed times the
applicable work-rate standard, rounded to the nearest whole number;
i.e., WORK UNITS COMPLETED x WORK-RATE STANDARD = MAN-HOURS. A measure
of weighted workload.

**Standard Time**-Amount of time necessary to accomplish a unit of work,
using a given method and/or equipment, under given conditions, when
performed by an employee (a) possessing a specified amount of skill and
aptitude, (b) having suffi­cient training to perform the operation
properly, and (c) working at a normal pace for a given time.

**Statistical Quality Control**-A technique for detecting, by
statistical means, the presence of systematic or nonrandom variations in
quality in the output of a process, thus making possible their
elimination or reduction to an acceptable level, leaving the remaining
variation to chance causes. A process operating under a stable system of
chance causes is said to be statistically under control.

**Substantive Error**-An inadequacy, incorrect action or clearly
erroneous decision affecting entitlement rights (monetary or otherwise)
of veterans and dependents, which, if uncorrected, results in or would
result in the improper grant or denial of entitlement rights (monetary
or otherwise) to veterans or their dependents.

**Supervision, Supervisory Man-Hours**-Man-hours spent in line and staff
management and supervisory activities; includ­ing man-hours of supporting
staff positions at the GS-7 level and above. These activities are
characteristic of positions such as Director, Division Chief, and
related Assistants; Management Analysis or Administrative Officer;
Management Analyst or Technician; Administrative Assistant or
Technician; and all full-time supervisors.

**U**

**Unit Cost**-The cost (labor, material, and overhead) to produce an
identifiable work unit, or end product.

**Unmeasured Man-Hours, Unmeasured Work**-Man-hours spent in activities
usually associated with the output of established end products or
services, not covered by work-rate standards or allowances. Such work is
not readily measurable because it occurs infrequently, has extreme
variations in unit time, or because it is necessary to cover a work
station regardless of volume. Unmeasured man-hours exclude activities
covered by work-rate standards and allowances, activities classified as
supervision or clerical overhead \".

**Upper Control Limit**-See \"Control Limit SQC.\"

**W**

**Weighted Output-**Number of output end products (in thousands) for a
given end product multiplied by the applicable standard or local base
weight for that end product during a specified period and projected for
an entire fiscal year.

**Weighted Workload-**(See \"Standard Man-Hours\".)

**Work Process**-The work actions or related series of actions which are
required to produce an end product.

**Work-Rate Standard**-The expression in numerical terms of an
established time it should normally take an activity or group of
employees to produce one defined unit of work. A work-rate standard
includes direct labor time for producing the unit of work, plus an
increase for nonproductive allowance time such as personal needs,
unavoidable delay, etc. (See also \"Adjusted Time\" and \"Standard
Time\".)

**Work Sampling**-Procedure for deriving standard time (work-rate
standard) by sampling studies which involve recording a series of
randomly spaced observations of a task. A fact-finding tool based upon
the laws of probability to develop distribution of time spent by an
activity or group of employees in processing defined work units.

**Work Unit**-As used in this manual, the term \"work unit\" will be
considered synonymous with \"end product\" unless otherwise defined by
the text material.