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personnel department

personnel department

1 3.4
A part of a company that hires, trains, and manages employees
  • noun
  • /ˈpɜrsəˌnɛl dɪˈpɑrtmənt/
translation icon : departamento de personal
  • Let me transfer you to our Personnel department." Doug listened to a few seconds' worth of innocuous Muzak before a man's voice came on the line.

Examples

  • The personnel department sends notice of employment and the pay rate to the payroll clerk.

    Academic text (1991)
  • When factory employees terminate their employment, they must complete a form and submit it to the personnel department, which notifies the payroll clerk.

    Academic text (1991)
  • I will talk to the personnel department.

  • My students registered with the county personnel department, and I kept track of the hours that they worked.

    Academic text (2007)
  • All changes in pay rate are authorized by the personnel department.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Factory employees are hired by the personnel department, which determines the appropriate pay rate.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The personnel department distributes the payroll checks.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Clear all terminations with human resources, the personnel department, and/or an experienced employment attorney.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Any unclaimed payroll checks are retained by the personnel department.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The personnel department is responsible for hiring new employees and managing their training.

Synonyms

personnel
vspersonnel department
167 3.0

The department that hires, trains and manages employees

is the longer, more formal phrase used in official documents
personnel office
vspersonnel department
3 3.3

A part of a company that hires, trains, and manages employees

is the more common institutional phrasing compared with this alternative label
staff office
vspersonnel department
  • Formal
1 3.1

A department that hires, trains, and manages employees

is the standard term used broadly across organizations rather than this variant

How Big

personnel department
1 3.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

personnel + department

The meaning is directly compositional: combining 'personnel' (staff/human-resources functions) with 'department' (an organizational unit) yields an organizational unit that handles personnel matters. This noun–noun combination follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern and is immediately predictable for learners who know both constituent words.

Etymology

Personnel department comes from the word personnel, meaning 'people who work for an organization', and department, meaning a part of a company. So the phrase literally means the 'people' part of a company, which is why it refers to the team that hires, trains and manages staff.