Sixty credit hours must be accumulated during the three-year recertification cycle. Credit hours can be obtained through:

• continuing education,
• instruction,
• on-the-job experience,
• research and publishing,
• leadership, and
• professional membership in a national HR professional association.

Continuing Education (60-credit-hour maximum)

Certificants can earn the entire 60 credit hours in the continuing education category. There are limits in other categories. Recertification credit is awarded on an hour-for-hour basis for all educational time in HR-related continuing education events. Recertification credit is not awarded for time spent in registration, meals, breaks, exhibit hall, etc.

A low cost and time efficient way to earn recertification credit is to attend webcasts and/or download podcasts of HR related on-line classes. The maximum amount of continuing education credit that a certificant can accumulate through videoconferences, audiotapes and webcasts is 20 recertification credit hours over a three-year period. For more information about calculating recertification credit hours, please review the section titled “Calculating Recertification Credit.”

Instruction (20-credit-hour maximum) - LOW COST!

Recertification credit can be earned for teaching an HR-related subject . Presentations that communicate company policy (e.g., unveiling a new leave policy or health care benefits) are not considered “instruction” and would not earn recertification credit in this category.

“Instruction” may include a formal presentation made within your organization (for example, sexual harassment training) or as an instructor of a course, workshop, seminar or session at a conference. Credit is awarded only for the first time the presentation is made, so the same presentation made to several different audiences is awarded recertification credit hours only for the first presentation.

Preparation time is taken into consideration under this category by awarding 1.5 credit hours for every hour of the presentation. For example, a one-hour presentation would be awarded 1.5 recertification credit hours. Twenty credit hours are awarded for teaching a semester-long, HR-related, college-level course.

On-the-Job Experience ( 20-credit-hour max) - LOW/NO COST!

Recertification credit can be earned for a first-time work experience if that activity adds to the understanding of the HR body of knowledge. In other words, the experience has a “value-added” feature in the final work product that requires a certificant to learn new things. If you spend a substantial amount of time on the work product in excess of the maximum allowed or if you are listing multiple projects, request the maximum allowed in the category.

Examples of on-the-job projects that may be awarded recertification credit include:

• Research and design of a new benefit plan.
• Research, design and implementation of a diversity program.
• Research, design and implementation of a new performance management system.
• Research and implementation of a new HRIS system.

Chances are that for any first-time work experience, you will spend far more hours researching, designing and implementing the new work product than the maximum available in this category. It is not necessary, then, to distribute credit hours among multiple on-the-job experiences on the application form–simply list the multiple experiences, their duration dates, and request the maximum number of hours.

If, however, you are submitting for only one new on-the-job experience, calculate the number of hours spent on the experience or product and request that amount (keeping in mind the maximum).

By using SHRM survey reports, customized benchmarking reports and LINE^® reports to identify your organization’s human capital strengths and weaknesses, and to create a framework for managing and encouraging employees toward continuous improvement, you may be able to earn HR Certification Institute recertification credit in the On-the-Job category. In order to receive credit, you would need to provide a description of how you used the tool and what organizational changes occurred as a result. The number of recertification hours that will be awarded will be determined by HR Certification Institute’s staff. The maximum number of hours that may be awarded is 20 hours.

Research and Publishing (20-credit-hour maximum)- LOW COST!

Recertification credit can be earned by conducting primary research on an HR-related topic and by writing and publishing the results of that research in a scholarly HR journal or publication. Articles published in a chapter newsletter are not eligible for credit.

Articles published in a journal or periodical and solely written by the certificant would earn 20 hours. Significant contribution to a published text, such as a textbook, would earn 20 hours. Co-authored or edited works would earn 10 credit hours. The development of an HR video would earn 10 hours. Research projects done at work cannot be counted in this category. Research and publishing must be conducted outside of your organization. SHRM white papers authored solely by the certificant would earn up to 3 credit hours during the three-year recertification period.

Leadership (10-credit-hour maximum)- LOW COST!

HRCI awards recertification in leadership for certificants who support the HR profession by contributing their HR expertise in areas outside of their workplace. This category recognizes the importance of not only “giving back” to the profession and promoting excellence, but to contributing one’s professional knowledge to the community. This is the only category where recertification credit is not necessarily awarded on an hour-for-hour basis. The maximum number of recertification credit hours that can be accumulated in this category over a three-year period is 10 hours.

Leadership credit typically awarded includes activities within a national or international HR-related association (such as SHRM), chairing an HR committee within a local Chamber of Commerce, or otherwise using one’s HR expertise to further a volunteer organization’s mission. Recertification credit is not awarded for leadership activities that do not have a direct HR link–for example leading a local Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts troop.

Listed below are some examples of leadership activities that may earn recertification credit hours.

Recertification credit may be awarded to individuals who complete a survey that results in one of the survey reports that the SHRM publishes general survey reports, customized benchmarking reports and LINE^® reports. Individuals would be able to get 1 recertification credit hour per year for a maximum of 3 credit hours during their 3 year recertification cycle. This activity would need to be documented under the Leadership category.

As in all categories, recertification candidates should retain proof of participation in case of audit.

Professional Membership (10-credit-hour maximum)

Recertification credit is available to certificants who are members of a national or international HR-related professional association or society. Membership in a local chapter or association will not be awarded recertification hours.

Examples of national or international HR-related professional associations or societies include (but are not limited to) SHRM, the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and WorldatWork.

Three hours per year are awarded for national SHRM membership and two hours per year for other national associations and societies up to a maximum of 10 credit hours during the recertification cycle.

In some cases, the HR Certification Institute may not award the full credit hours the certificants indicated on the application for a continuing education event. If a certificant falls short of the required hours, HR Certification Institute will give that individual an opportunity to submit additional credits, provided those additional credits occurred during the recertification cycle in question.

Low Cost Recertification Tips