Right-to-know laws are state laws that expand upon federal laws requiring employers to inform employees about hazardous substances that they may encounter in the workplace. Federal laws overseen by the OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (OSHA) provide the primary rules regarding workplace safety.

See RACKETEER INFLUENCED CORRUPT ORGANIZATION ACT.

A retirement provides retirement INCOME to an employee or results in a deferral of income by employees during their EMPLOYMENT or beyond. It is a cash benefit created by government, the employer, or the employee to cover the period after the employee retires.

See DIVIDENDS, RETAINED EARNINGS.

Retailing is the selling of goods and SERVICES to final consumers. Retailing in the United States is big business; approximately one-fifth of all U.S. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT is transacted through retailers. Wal-Mart, the country’s largest retail company, sells nearly $140 billion annually and now operates in dozens of countries around the world.

Restrictive covenants limit the ability of a seller or employee to compete in the future with the firm with which they are doing business or currently employed. Restrictive covenants are most frequently found in CONTRACTs for the sale of businesses and professional practices and in EMPLOYMENT contracts.

Restraints of trade of various types are unlawful according to COMMON LAW and under state and federal ANTITRUST LAWs. In common law, covenants not to compete given by employees to employers and sellers of businesses to buyers are the most commonly contested restraints of trade.

Resources, also referred to as factors of production, are the inputs used in production of goods and services.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 1970) regulates the identification, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes. The act directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate hazardous waste “from cradle to grave.”

The Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) was created in 1989 as part of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act to manage, sell, and liquidate bankrupt SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS (S&Ls;).

Associated with the accounting for long-term ASSETS, residual value, alternatively called salvage value, is the estimated disposal value of an asset at the end of its useful life.

Reserve requirements, imposed by the FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM, mandate that commercial banks and other depository institutions keep a certain percentage of their deposits in accounts with the Federal Reserve Bank (the central bank in the United States, known as the Fed) or as cash in their vaults.

Research is an investigation or experiment aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws. Development is the act of putting new information, research, or ideas into practice.

A request for proposal (RFP) solicits offers from suppliers of goods or SERVICES needed by an organization. Similar terms are invitation to bid and request for quotation. Each term is associated with a different degree of request specificity and different procedures and expectations on the part of all parties involved.

Repurchase agreements are lending agreements between borrowers and lenders. The borrower gets MONEY by entering into an agreement in which he or she sells securities that he/she owns and simultaneously agrees to repurchase them at a specific time and price. Since the repurchase is for a specific time and price, the RISK of ownership in fact continues to rest on the borrower.

See PRICE CEILINGS, PRICE CONTROLS.

Relationship marketing is an ongoing interaction between buyers and sellers in which sellers actively work to improve their understanding of buyers’ needs, and buyers become increasingly loyal to the sellers because their needs are being so well satisfied.

Reductions in force (RIFs) are business decisions to reduce the number of employees, usually in order to reduce COSTS. Also called LAYOFFs, downsizing, and even rightsizing, RIFs became a common business decision in the 1990s. Most companies and organizations have RIF policies, which are usually based on SENIORITY (i.e., last in, first out).

See EMPLOYEE RECRUITING.

Reciprocity includes the special allowances, preferences, and favors businesses extend to important customers and suppliers who are also customers. Often businesses will direct purchases toward companies that also buy products from them.

There are several ways to define a recession. The most commonly quoted definition is two consecutive quarters of declining real GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP). The “cocktail party” definition is “when your neighbor is unemployed but you still have your job.”

Real income is the income purchasing power of an individual, group, or nation adjusted for changes in prices.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are companies that own and, in most cases, operate INCOME-producing real estate. Typically owners of apartments, shopping centers, offices, and warehouses, REITs take funds from investors and purchase real-estate ASSETS.

See FORCED-RANKING SYSTEMS.