Question 1

What is an interview with potential future co-workers an example of?

Accepted Answer

Interviews with potential future co-workers are an example of a realistic job preview.
Key Takeaway: Realistic job previews (often shortened to RJPs) are typically used in the relatively early stages of choosing possible personnel for a position. The RJPs are designed to supply applicants with a real idea of what the job would be like, highlighting both the positive and negative aspects of it. Realistic Job Previews are often used in situations in which high turnover is common so that new employees will come into an employment contract fully knowing what will be expected of them.

Question 2

During what kind of economic conditions are cost of living adjustments generally used?

Accepted Answer

Cost of living adjustments are generally used during periods of high inflation.
Key Takeaway: Using cost of living adjustments during periods of high inflation can help to reduce the overall effects of wage compression. Usually, these kinds of adjustments are more popular in public sector jobs that in the private sector.

Question 3

Which of the following is the most effective mode of evaluating employee performance?

Accepted Answer

Continuous feedback is the most effective mode of evaluating employee performance.
Key Takeaway: The continuous feedback program is, by far, the most effective method of evaluating employee performance. By consistently addressing employer and employee needs and performance on an ongoing basis, employees are given the consistent support and feedback they need to achieve success in the work. Additionally, it is generally believed to reduce the stress of a yearly review period.

Question 4

When is an employer with 200 or more employees required to provide at least 60 days' notice for a mass layoff, according to the WARN Act?

Accepted Answer

According to the WARN act, an employer with 200 or more employees is required to provide at least 60 days' notice for a mass layoff if the company lays off at least 5 employees a week for 3 months.
Key Takeaway: The WARN Act (also known as the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) is a labor law that protects employees and their families by requiring that most employers with more than 100 employees must provide at least 60 days' notice of plant closings and/or mass layoffs. Employees who are eligible for protection under the WARN Act are hourly wage workers, salaried workers, managers, and supervisors.

Question 5

Which of the following is the correct term for an arrangement in which an employee is paid a portion of their income at a later stage in life?

Accepted Answer

Deferred pay is the correct term for an arrangement in which an employee is paid a portion of their income at a later stage in life.
Key Takeaway: Deferred compensation is an arrangement for a portion of an employee`s income to be paid out at a future date to compensate the actual income. Good examples of deferred compensation are retirement plans, pensions, life insurance plans, and stock options.

Question 6

Dominick, a warehouse employee, gets called into his supervisor's office for a discussion about an inventory shortage in the warehouse. After the supervisor's first question, Dominick invokes his Weingarten rights. What is the supervisor's next step?

Accepted Answer

In this situation, when Dominick invokes his Weingarten rights, the supervisor should stop asking questions and determine what happened to the supplies based upon other hard evidence.
Key Takeaway: The 1975 court case of the National Labor Relations Board v. J. Weingarten, Inc. upheld that employees always have a right to have union representation at investigatory reviews. The main rules involved in an employee's "Weingarten Rights" are: the employee must request union representation either before or during the interview and may not be penalized for doing so; the employer must either grant the request, deny and end the interview, or give the employee the choice; and last, if the employer denies the employee's request and continues the line of questioning, it is considered an unfair labor practice and the employee does not have to answer questions.

Question 7

In what kind of transaction is a contract provided by an entity that is not otherwise involved in the agreement?

Accepted Answer

In a third-party contract, the contract is provided by an entity that is not otherwise involved in the agreement.
Key Takeaway: Remember that "third-party" always refers to a situation in which someone is involved in a business transaction, deal, or mediation and they are not otherwise directly involved with the situation.

Question 8

Mark has decided to come forward to accuse his boss, Samantha, of quid pro quo harassment. You are the HR manager and so, you are responsible for investigating the case. Samantha happens to be your friend. Who would be the best person to investigate the case?

Accepted Answer

In this case, the situation between Mark and Samantha would be best investigated by a third-party.
Key Takeaway: The precise translation of quid pro quo is â€œthis for that.â€? In the workplace, quid pro quo translates to a job benefit being directly tied to unwelcome sexual advances-usually from a superior. For example, a superior may offer an employee a promotion or a raise in exchange for sex or even a date. Quid pro quo harassment can also occur when a superior withholds opportunities based upon a subordinate's agreement to physical conduct. Whenever there is a case of harassment-whether quid pro quo or other-and you personally are familiar with one of the parties involved, it is always best handled by a third-party.

Question 9

During the strategic planning process, it is often necessary to use a PEST analysis. What is PEST an acronym for?

Accepted Answer

During the strategic planning process, it is often necessary to use a PEST analysis. PEST is an acronym for political, economic, social, technology.
Key Takeaway: A PEST analysis, used during the strategic planning process, refers to the â€œPolitical, Economic, Social, and Technologicalâ€? factors that may affect the overall strategy of an organization. In recent years, some analysts have added an "L," which stands for "legal factors," and/or an "E," which stands for "environmental factors." A PEST analysis can be very useful to understand the potential direction of the business and any ramifications-good or bad-of impending business decisions.

Question 10

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) comes under the jurisdiction of which of the following departments?

Accepted Answer

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) comes under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department.
Key Takeaway: The federal laws are enforced by the United States EEOC, which is a division of the Department of Justice. An individual who feels he/she has been discriminated against must file a complaint with EEOC for investigation and possible resolution before proceeding to the court.

Question 11

What is the requirement of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (also known as VEVRAA)?

Accepted Answer

The requirement of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistant Act (also known as VEVRAA) is that state employment agencies must give preference to Vietnam vets for positions that last 3 days or longer.
Key Takeaway: The Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA) was an act of congress that required all employers with contracts of $25,000 or more to provide equal opportunity and affirmative action for all Vietnam veterans, regardless of disabilities.

Question 12

The Society for Human Resource Development and the Human Resource Certification Institute have developed a code of ethical standards that are comprised of six core principles. Which of the following is not one of those principles?

Accepted Answer

A commitment to consistent employee wage increases is not one of the core ethical standards.
Key Takeaway: Working together, the Society for Human Resource Development and the Human Resource Certification Institute have developed a code of ethical standards that are comprised of six core principles that human resources professionals are expected to uphold. The six principles are: professional responsibility, professional development, ethical leadership, fairness and justice, conflicts of interest (avoiding), and use of information. Note that the complete SHRM Code of Ethics is available online and you should definitely be sure to review it before your exam.

Question 13

Which of the following would not be a part of a typical employee handbook?

Accepted Answer

The names of management personnel would not be part of a typical employee handbook.
Key Takeaway: Though the employee manual may have an organization chart and an overview of the organization, it usually does not have the names of current management. It would, however, have names of staff that are to be contacted in case an employee has questions about the manual.

Question 14

What was the result of the Sturgis case on the possible unionizing of temporary employees?

Accepted Answer

The result of the Sturgis case was that temporary employees who work directly with regular employees may join them in a union.
Key Takeaway: Temporary workers who work directly with regular employees were finally allowed to join those employees in unionizing after the Sturgis case of 2000. In this case, M.B. Sturgis, Inc. out of Missouri was the target of a union organizing campaign. Sturgis wanted to include temporary workers in the bargaining unit, but the union did not want them to be included, believing they did not have the knowledge or stakes that the other, full-time employees had. The NLRB reversed their long-standing position about the inclusion of temporary workers and decided that they could unionize.

Question 15

Which of the following spheres of the employer-employee relationship is not usually governed by individual state governments?

Accepted Answer

Overtime pay is not typically governed by individual state governments.
Key Takeaway: According to the FLSA, an employee in any given business must be classified as either exempt or nonexempt. In order to be exempt, an employee must be paid a salary of at least $23,660 per year. An employee who is entitled to hourly pay (at minimum wage or above), overtime, and protections under child labor and equal pay, that employee is considered to be non-exempt. Because FLSA is a federal policy, overtime pay is not typically governed by individual state governments.

Question 16

Which act is also known as the Anti-Kickback Act?

Accepted Answer

The Copeland Act is also known as the Anti-Kickback Act.
Key Takeaway: The Copeland Act, also known as Anti-Kickback Act, was enacted in 1934 in order to prohibit contractors and sub-contractors from influencing an employee who was involved in a federally-assisted construction project to give up any part of the compensation to which he is entitled as a "kick-back" to the company or its executives.

Question 17

What is the correct term for the process of identifying risks and taking effective steps to minimize them?

Accepted Answer

Risk management is the correct term for the process of identifying risks and taking effective steps to minimize them.
Key Takeaway: A risk refers to an uncertain event that will either have a positive or negative effect upon the completion of a program or its subsidiary projects-if the event occurs. Effective risk management is crucial to planning and maintaining a program and its subsidiary projects. At the program level, risk management activities can include: identifying potential project/program risks and their causes, reviewing the risk response plans from every subsidiary project and analyzing how that potential risk could have an effect upon subsequent projects, and to propose responses to those risks. Obviously, in all of these cases, effective communication is the key to managing the risks.

Question 18

Mike runs a successful chain of ice cream shops and wants to gain some insight into his employees' goals, their job satisfaction, and to provide some career counseling to employees who want it. What would be the most effective method to do this?

Accepted Answer

In order for Mike to gain some insight into his employees' goals, their job satisfaction, and to provide some career counseling to employees, he should employ skip-level interviews.
Key Takeaway: A skip-level interview occurs when higher level managers literally "skips over" their managers to meet directly with lower-level employees. As part of the performance feedback, a skip-level interview helps employers and employees to directly discuss assignments, job growth, and career development without having to wait for management feedback or approval.

Question 19

Which of the following looks at individual units or departments within a company in order to reduce possible redundancies or processes with the overall goal of cutting corporate costs and increasing production?

Accepted Answer

Corporate restructuring looks at individual units or departments within a company in order to reduce possible redundancies or processes with the overall goal of cutting corporate costs and increasing production.

Question 20

Isa was recently hired as an outside sales rep for the Pacific Northwest region of a major book publishing company. As part of her selection process, she had to take an assessment test, on which Isa scored very well. During her initial interview, Lori, the hiring manager, had some concerns about how well Isa may fit into the publishing company's corporate culture. But when Lori learned about how well Isa did on the test, she immediately hired her. What bias could be in effect in this situation?

Accepted Answer

In this situation, the knowledge-of-predictor bias could be in effect.
Key Takeaway: When HR representatives or hiring managers perform employee interviews, they must be very careful to not employee any kind of bias toward the potential employee, as a bias could have an unintended impact upon the results of the interview and the hiring decision. The "Knowledge-of-predictor" bias is one of these and occurs when the interviewer is aware of a candidate's performance (either good or bad) upon an examination that has shown to have some sort of predictor of performance in their potential position.

Quiz 3: HR