Q&A Hero

Q: Which of the following is a federal law that establishes a minimum wage and requirements for overtime pay and child labor? A. FLSA B. ADA C. FMLA D. ERISA E. EAP

Q: Which of the following is a drawback of a comparable-worth policy? A. A free-market economy assumes people will not take differences in pay into account when they choose a career. B. Employees may conclude that pay rates are unfair. C. The courts prohibit organizations from defending themselves against claims of discrimination by showing that they pay the going market rate. D. Grouping jobs will result in rates of pay for individual jobs that do not precisely match the levels specified by the market and the organization's job structure. E. Raising pay for some jobs places the employer at a disadvantage relative to employers that pay the market rate.

Q: The comparable-worth policy: A. advocates remedies for any undervaluation of jobs based on market-pay data. B. is designed to reduce the wage gap between women and minority groups exclusively. C. has been consistently upheld in court rulings. D. uses job evaluation of an organization's jobs in terms of such criteria as their difficulty. E. is the only non-controversial pay policy.

Q: Cindy and Alex execute the same roles and responsibilities at their organization. However, Alex earns more than Cindy. Under the laws governing equal employment opportunity, which of the following will justify the organization's decision to pay Alex more than Cindy? A. Alex belongs to a poor family. B. Alex has more experience compared to Cindy. C. Alex is younger than Cindy. D. Alex can work for longer hours than Cindy because he is a male. E. Cindy is an introvert.

Q: Which of the following statements is true of equal employment opportunity laws? A. These laws guarantee equal pay for whites and minorities. B. The goal of these laws is for employers to provide equal pay for equal work. C. Job descriptions and job structures cannot help organizations demonstrate that they are upholding these laws. D. These laws guarantee equal pay for men and women. E. Under these laws, employers cannot tie differences in pay to business-related considerations.

Q: Hamish Life, an insurance company, defines the difference in pay between an entry-level recruiter and an entry-level assembler, as well as the difference between an entry-level recruiter, the HR manager, and the organization's Vice President. Which of the following is being exemplified in this scenario? A. Straight piecework plan B. Job structure C. Merit pay system D. Pay differential E. Balanced scorecard

Q: An organization's job structure and pay levels: A. reflect the organization's knowledge about inflationary pressures. B. reflect the decisions about how much to pay each employee. C. provide the total amount an organization pays for a particular job. D. are annual earnings of key employees in the organization. E. are policies of the organization.

Q: Which of the following best defines an organization's job structure? A. It consists of the relative pay for different jobs within the organization. B. It is the average amount an organization pays for a particular job. C. It comprises the characteristics of jobs that the organization values and chooses to pay. D. It comprises regular pay, overtime pay, and bonuses. E. It refers to the standard amount that employers must pay under federal and state law.

Q: Caroline, a researcher, believes that an organization needs to plan what they will pay employees in each job. Mark, her colleague, argues that an employee's pay should be independently negotiated. Which of the following statements will weaken Mark's argument? A. An unplanned approach will likely result in unfairness and dissatisfaction among the employees. B. Most of the employees prefer planned pay because negotiation with the management takes time. C. Independently negotiated pay will increase the workload and rivalry among the employees. D. When the pay is planned by the organization, it creates more employment opportunities. E. The pay structure is the same for both an entry-level and a manager-level employee if it has been independently negotiated.

Q: Which of the following will most likely be a result of using an unplanned approach, in which each employee's pay is independently negotiated? A. Dissatisfied employees B. Equal pay distribution C. Rates that are stable D. Easy employment E. Cost control

Q: The equity of executive pay has a limited effect on other employees.

Q: Military pay often exceeds what service members would earn in their civilian jobs.

Q: Issues affecting an organization's pay structure do not affect its reputation in general.

Q: A compa-ratio is 1 if actual pay is not consistent with the pay structure of an organization.

Q: Skill-based pay systems do not support empowerment of employees.

Q: Implementing broad bands increases the opportunities for promoting employees.

Q: The most common approach to pay differentials is to move an employee lower in the pay structure to compensate for increasing costs.

Q: Pay grades allow precise matching of pay for individual jobs to market rates and an organization's job structure.

Q: When job structure conflicts with market data, organizations should base their pay only on market forces because this approach does not have any practical drawbacks.

Q: Key jobs are uncommon and have unstable content, making them very difficult to evaluate using pay surveys.

Q: The job characteristics that an organization deems valuable and decides to pay for are termed as compensable factors.

Q: Research suggests that employees in the lower tier of the pay structure in a two-tier wage system are less satisfied than the top-tier employees.

Q: In a two-tier wage system, employees doing the same job are paid two different rates, depending on their technical background and training.

Q: According to equity theory, employees evaluate job outcomes such as compensation in terms of outputs.

Q: Organizations use pay surveys to benchmark compensation.

Q: The upper limit that product markets place on the pay offered by an organization is significant when the organization's total costs are mainly comprised of labor costs and when price is a significant factor for the organization's consumers.

Q: The pay offered by an organization is not limited by its presence in a product market.

Q: In a product market, different organizations have exclusive customer bases.

Q: Under the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 and the Walsh-Healy Public Contracts Act of 1936, employees of federal contractors must receive rates less than the prevailing wages in the area.

Q: Under the FLSA, children aged 14 and 15 may not be employed outside school hours.

Q: Paying a salary does not necessarily mean that a job is exempt from overtime pay.

Q: If state laws specify minimum wages, in addition to the federal level, employees are entitled to receive whichever rate is higher.

Q: The laws governing Equal Employment Opportunity guarantee equal pay for all employees of an organization.

Q: An organization's policies, rather than the wages, salaries, and bonuses that employees earn, determine the job structure and pay levels within that organization.

Q: Pay level is the total amount an employee pays to the organization.

Q: SourceCodes Inc. is an organization that tries to avoid the potential for violence or a lawsuit each time an employee is asked to leave the company. They do this by having supervisors discuss with poor performers whether they are a good fit for their current jobs and then encouraging these poor performers to think about leaving the company. As such, they refrain from directly firing the poor performers. Which of the following strategies does SourceCodes Inc. use in this scenario? A. An employee assistance program B. Outcome fairness C. An alternative dispute resolution D. Fair representation E. Outplacement counseling

Q: Outplacement counseling programs are: A. long-distance educational programs using instruction via video or audio tapes, computers etc. provided by the company to augment employee skills. B. services in which professionals try to help dismissed employees manage the transition from one job to another. C. third-party programs to assist employees with their mental health and chemical dependency needs. D. university-sponsored executive training programs that require participants to live on campus while completing short, custom-designed courses. E. services rendered to employees to manage drug or alcohol addiction.

Q: Brandon, an employee of EduTech Corp., demonstrates a series of unacceptable behaviors. Marian, his manager, wants to involve an impartial person to look into this matter. However, Ming, the head of the HR department, believes that the problem should be referred to the company's employee assistance program. Which of the following situations is most likely to strengthen Ming's view? A. If EduTech Corp. wants to terminate Brandon due to problems that involve alcohol abuse B. If EduTech Corp. wants to use only the simplest, most direct, and least expensive way to settle the dispute C. If EduTech Corp. wants an experienced and retired judge to resolve the dispute D. If EduTech Corp. wants only a neutral party from outside the organization to hear the case E. If EduTech Corp. wants only Brandon's immediate supervisor to hear the complaint

Q: Which of the following is an option of an employee assistance program (EAP) in which a patient uses video conferencing equipment to participate in online meetings with a therapist? A. Headhunting B. Videohealth C. Alternative dispute resolution D. Outplacement counseling E. Telepsychiatry

Q: Identify the correct statement regarding an employee assistance program. A. It enables organizations to train supervisors to use the system to refer their employees when necessary. B. It is a company-sponsored program to help employees manage the transition from one job to another. C. It cannot be recommended by union representatives. D. It involves taking the help of a neutral party though a nonbinding process to solve issues among employees. E. It involves hiring an arbitrator from outside the organization to hear cases or disputes among employees.

Q: ____ is a referral service that employees can make use of to pursue professional treatment for emotional problems or substance abuse. A. Alternative dispute resolution B. Outplacement counseling C. Employee assistance program D. Progressive discipline program E. Request for proposal

Q: Who among the following would hear and resolve a case if the alternative dispute resolution method of arbitration is used? A. An immediate supervisor B. A higher-level manager C. A panel of nonmanagement employees D. A peer of the employee E. A retired judge

Q: The result reached in a(n) _____ is binding upon both parties. A. peer review B. mediation C. open-door policy D. arbitration E. outplacement counseling

Q: Which of the following is an example of an alternative dispute resolution method? A. Carve-out B. Employment assistance programs C. Benchmarking D. Arbitration E. Outplacement counseling

Q: Open-door policy, peer review, and mediation are generally steps within: A. the strategy decision-making process. B. the alternative dispute resolution system. C. the collective bargaining system. D. the fair representation policy. E. the performance appraisal program.

Q: _____ is a process for resolving disagreements by taking them to a panel composed of representatives from the organization at the same levels as the people in the dispute. A. Outplacement counseling B. Mediation C. Carve-out D. Arbitration E. Peer review

Q: Adam Wallace, a neutral party outside of La Mesa Inc., helped simplify issues between two technical teams of the company. Though Wallace's solution had no binding power, both the teams decided to accept his solution. This is an example of: A. mediation. B. arbitration. C. open-door policy. D. progressive discipline. E. fair representation.

Q: Based on the expectation that two people in conflict should first try to arrive at a settlement together, organizations have a policy of making managers available to hear complaints. Typically, the first "open door" is that of the employee's: A. immediate supervisor. B. choice of a neutral party. C. peers. D. immediate subordinates. E. personal counselor.

Q: If peer review does not lead to a compromise, a neutral party from outside the organization hears the case and tries to resolve the conflict and attempts to reach a compromise. This process is called: A. mediation. B. carve-out. C. open-door policy. D. fair representation. E. attrition.

Q: Peer review is an example of _____. A. alternative dispute resolution B. employee assistance programs C. outplacement counseling D. fair representation E. employee carve-out

Q: What is the simplest, most direct, and least expensive way to settle a dispute? A. Benchmarking B. Arbitration C. Mediation D. Open-door policy E. Peer review

Q: Which of the following types of alternate dispute resolution functions well only to the extent that employees trust management and managers who hear complaints listen and are able to act? A. Mediation B. Behavioral modeling C. Open-door policy D. Fair representation E. Peer review system

Q: Which of the following has the main responsibility of developing a formal discipline process for the workplace? A. Human resource department B. Outplacement counselors C. Legal department D. Sales force E. Arbitrators

Q: Conducting personal business online during work hours is called: A. cybersquatting. B. cyberbullying. C. cyberdefamation. D. cyberstalking. E. cyberslacking.

Q: Elisa, a student of human resource management, believes that an organization that follows the progressive discipline system would never have a consequence that is clear, objective, and immediate because its objective is to prevent misbehavior and to correct, rather than merely punish, misbehavior. However, Elisa's professor, Stefan, argues that such responses are also possible. Which of the following situations would most likely strengthen Stefan's argument? A. If the situation is such that the misbehavior is dangerous and the organization establishes a stricter discipline policy B. If the procedure seems exasperatingly slow, especially when an employee's misdeeds hurt a team's performance C. If careful use of the procedure increases other employees' belief that the organization is fair D. If careful use of the procedure reduces the likelihood that the problem employee will sue the organization E. If careful use of the procedure reduces the likelihood that the employee will win in court

Q: Which of the following statements is true of a progressive discipline system? A. It includes peer reviews, mediation, and arbitration. B. It always involves four parties: the employee, the union, the company, and the courts. C. It communicates unacceptable behavior and responds to a series of offenses with increasing forcefulness. D. It is a speedy process. E. It is objective, immediate, and impersonal.

Q: With which of the following steps does the progressive discipline process end? A. A written warning and a threat of temporary suspension B. An unofficial spoken warning C. An official written warning D. Temporary suspension and a written notice E. Termination

Q: Which of the following is a typical first response in the progressive discipline system? A. Official spoken warning B. Written warning with threat of temporary suspension C. Temporary suspension with no written notice D. Unofficial spoken warning E. Termination

Q: Which of the following processes seeks to avert misbehavior and to correct, rather than merely punish, misbehavior? A. Hot-stove rule B. Fair representation C. Progressive discipline D. Benchmarking E. Peer review technique

Q: MediaTxt Corp. is an organization that follows the process of progressive discipline. The organization communicates with Leila, an employee, about unacceptable behavior and responds to a series of her offenses. Which of the following would be the step that immediately precedes a written warning for Leila along with a threat of temporary suspension? A. A letter informing about her demotion B. An unofficial spoken warning C. An official written warning D. A termination letter E. A letter informing Leila about her transfer

Q: Eli, a graduate in human resource management, believes that an organization that follows the system of progressive discipline produces responses in written form at every step of the process. However, his classmate Ivanna argues that written responses may not be produced at every step. Which of the following would strengthen Ivanna's argument? A. If the organization communicates a temporary suspension for the offending employee B. If the organization responds to the second of a series of unacceptable behaviors C. If the organization responds to the first of a series of offenses D. If the organization communicates a response with a threat of temporary suspension E. If the organization does not follow the principles of the hot-stove rule

Q: Which of the following principles of justice suggests that organizations should engage in a formal discipline process when preparing for problems in which the consequences become more severe if the employee repeats the offense? A. Interactional justice B. Progressive discipline system C. Alternative dispute resolution program D. Procedural justice E. Impassive justice

Q: The hot-stove rule differs from a progressive discipline process in that with the hot-stove rule: A. the punishment meted is always inconsistent. B. the consequences for breaking the rule is immediate. C. the rule breaker will be warned multiple times before termination. D. the consequences follow a gradual increase in seriousness. E. the ideology is to prevent misbehavior rather than to merely punish it.

Q: Which of the following principles of discipline holds that an organization's discipline should give a clear-cut warning and follow up with consistent, objective, and immediate consequences? A. Per se rule B. Laissez faire rule C. Fundamental attribution rule D. Outcome fairness E. Hot-stove rule

Q: The Workers' Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act requires that: A. organizations with unionized operations negotiate any closing or layoff that will affect employees within the bargaining unit. B. organizations with more than 100 employees conduct and publicize the results of an environmental community impact study before a plant closing that will affect at least 50 full-time employees. C. organizations with 50 or more employees and $10,000 or more in federal contracts prepare and post an affirmation plan. D. organizations with more than 100 employees give 60 days' notice before any closing or layoff that will affect at least 50 full-time employees. E. organizations with more than 50 employees provide fringe benefits and pay penalties before any closing or layoff.

Q: If employers covered by the _____ do not notify the employees (and their union, if applicable) of layoffs, they may have to offer back pay and fringe benefits and pay penalties as well. A. Davis-Bacon Act B. Workers' Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act C. Right-to-Work Act D. Employee Free Choice Act E. Fair Labor Standards Act

Q: The board of directors of LiveCrop Industries decides to search the employees on the job. However, the head of the HR department, Heidi, believes that it could maximize the likelihood of a lawsuit due to privacy concerns. Which of the following would strengthen Heidi's belief? A. If the search is a random one, and it is clarified that no one has been accused of misdeeds B. If the search policies and consequences have been publicized C. If the search is done only after gathering consent from employees D. If the search is done only on employees and not supervisors E. If the search information is shared only with those who need it

Q: The top management at Zion Manufacturers decides to search its employees on the job. However, Raul, Zion's HR manager, believes that it could generate privacy issues. Which of the following would strengthen Raul's belief and maximize the likelihood of a lawsuit? A. If the search is done after asking for the employees' consent B. If the search policy is publicized and applied and carried out consistently C. If the search includes random legal and permissible searches of desks, lockers, and toolboxes D. If the search is a random check, and it is clarified that no one has been accused of misdeeds E. If the search involves communications such as e-mails that are searched without probable cause

Q: Clair, a manager, decides to conduct a random search to make sure her employees are following the ethics and principles of the company. Prior to this, she states that a search is about to occur and requests employees to comply. Which of the following measures for protecting employees' privacy is illustrated in this scenario? A. Requesting consent before gathering information B. Treating employees consistently C. Conducting searches discreetly D. Ensuring that information is relevant E. Sharing information with only those who need it

Q: When conducting a workplace search, employers can act fairly and minimize the likelihood of a lawsuit by: A. hushing the company's search policies prior to the search. B. searching employees' workplace without their knowledge. C. using non-company personnel to conduct the search. D. conducting random searches with or without a probable cause. E. justifying that the organization has work rules that provide for searches.

Q: Armando, a manager at a top engineering company, believes he can hire a few employees by promising them job security and later terminating them on different grounds. His co-worker, Zemara, believes that this action would violate the implied employment agreement. Which of the following statements would weaken Armando's belief? A. Armando believes that desperate times call for desperate measures. B. Armando deviates from the agreement that he had signed initially. C. Armando compensates the terminated employees. D. Zemara does not understand the principles of the company. E. The company is under financial constraints and at times has to lay off employees.

Q: Rashid is an employee at a chemical company called HCD Inc. He notices that several of the security personnel at HCD allow tankers to be filled with highly inflammable gases over the acceptable limit for personal gain. Rashid gathers ample evidence of such instances and presents it to senior management. A few days later, however, these allegations are dismissed, and Rashid gets fired from his job. Which of the following best depicts the reason why Rashid was wrongfully discharged? A. For doing what the law requires B. For violating public policy C. For publicized information-gathering policies D. For not requesting consent before gathering information E. For conducting searches discreetly

Q: Sean is employed as a supervisor at MaxCharge Industries. He gets fired from his job because he refused to discharge harmful chemicals from MaxCharge into a nearby river. Which of the following is the exception to the employment-at-will doctrine that Sean is likely to choose when he files a wrongful discharge suit? A. Affirmative action B. Reverse discrimination C. Implied contract D. Information seizure E. Public policy

Q: Which of the following does an employer violate when it terminates an employee for refusing to do something unethical, unsafe, and illegal? A. Affirmative action B. Public policy C. Fair representation D. Equal opportunity employment E. Reverse discrimination

Q: A perception of _____ is a judgment that the organization carried out its actions in a manner that took the employee's feelings into account. A. interactional justice B. employee turnover C. progressive discipline D. summary dismissal E. outcome fairness

Q: People's perception of _____ is their judgment that impartial methods were used to determine the consequences an employee obtains. A. interactional justice B. expatriation C. outcome fairness D. procedural justice E. progressive discipline

Q: Bob, an employee at Machina Corp., is well known among his colleagues because of his temper and impatience. During a heated argument with one of his supervisors, he reacts with hostility. Bob's manager calls him in for a discussion and listens to what he has to say about the incident, while treating him with dignity and respect. This scenario can be best categorized as one that used _____. A. restorative justice B. distributive justice C. interactional justice D. impassive justice E. retributive justice

Q: The systems of explanation of decision, respectful treatment, consideration, and empathy are features of _____. A. retributive justice B. interactional justice C. distributive justice D. benchmarking E. outcome fairness

Q: Ricardo reprimanded five of his employees for coming to work drunk after a lunch outing. The next week, Ricardo fired another employee for being drunk at work. The employees under Ricardo can conclude a lack of _____ in dealing with employees being drunk at work. A. benchmarking B. outcome fairness C. summary dismissal D. downsizing E. onboarding

Q: Although the rate of inflation is only 2 percent, Yolanda receives a 6 percent increase in salary. She is nonetheless dissatisfied with her salary increase because Marvin whose job designation is similar to Yolanda's receives a 9 percent increase. Yolanda is likely to contend that there is a lack of: A. employment-at-will. B. outcome fairness. C. procedural justice. D. interactional justice. E. fair representation.