Final Exam Flashcards
A compensation maxim for paying people fairly states that employees should be compensated for the requirements of the job they perform and…
How well they perform their job.
Which compensation objective is least compatible with the objective of providing an adequate income?
Compensation should be cost-benefit effective
The total labor force can be divided into three major labor markets:
Blue collar/non-supervisory white collar
Professional
Supervisors/Executives
Which segment of the labor market has the widest range of pay between the classifications of an occupation?
Supervisors/Executives
The pay ratio for lower-paid blu-collar workers versus highly-paid blue-collar workers is about
1:3
What are the three major decisions that must be made in designing a compensation system?
Wage Level, Wage Structure, Individual
Pay levels for professionals are determined mainly by
Educational training and certifications
Secret pay systems are better than open pay systems when
there are large, unexplained wage differentials.
Jobs in which labor market typically require the most education after high school?
Professional.
What are the strategic objectives of compensation?
Legal, adequate, motivating, equitable, secure, and cost-benefit effective
The “Hay” Guide Chart-Profile method uses which three compensable factors?
Know-how, Problem Solving, and Accountability
The GS system used by the Federal Government is an example of
a classification system.
The MOST significant impact of inflation on compensation is that it
requires timely wage adjustments.
In the point method, the weighting of the factors should be based on
their contribution to the overall worth of the job.
In the point method, “key job” refer to
equitably paid jobs that are fairly well-defined.
A “red-circle” rate is a wage that is
paid to a specific employee at a rate higher than that established for the job.
The most important tool to help a job evaluation committee reach a consensus decision when assigning points or comparing factors is
Job descriptions
The relationship between productivity and wages indicates that
Real compensation is closely related to productivity.
In a two-tier wage system…
Newly hired employees are paid on a lower wage scale than current employees.
Job evaluation is
A systematic approach to determine the value of each job.
The Scanlon Plan is a program which combines profit sharing with
a suggestion system.
According to Maslow, the desire to be creative and challenged and to develop one’s full potential is created by
self-actualization needs.
According to Herzberg’s Hygiene/Motivator Theory, what is the relationship between money and motivation?
Money is a factor associate with the context of the job (hygiene factor) and does not motivate.
Under a Halsey Premium Plan, workers would receive a bonus if
they completed a job faster than the standard time.
Person A and Person B both work the same job and receive the same pay, but A realizes that B works twice as fast. According to equity theory, A is most likely to
rationalize that his work is of higher quality than B’s.
Frederick W. Taylor, and others in scientific management, advocated what type of pay incentive?
Differential Piece Rates
What conditions are particularly well-suited for an individual merit pay plan to operate effectively and would call for it over other incentive plans?
There are wide variations in individual performance that supervisors can reliably measure.
The Rucker Share-of-Production Plan is a company-wide incentive plan based on the concept of
rewarding employees for the value they add to the product.
In which of the following situations should the individual incentive portion of total compensation be the highest?
Selling over the phone
According to expectancy theory, which of the following actions by a supervisor would strengthen the expectancy component?
Showing the employee how to complete a task faster: expectancy is the perceived relationship between effort and performance.
A qualified retirement plan funded by after-tax dollars
Roth IRA
A defined-contribution pension plan is defined by
How much money is put into the employee’s retirement fund each year.
Unemployment compensation was created as part of the
Social Security Act
The healthcare option that maximizes the patients’ freedom while minimizing cost control is
Fee for service
The concern for adverse selection in regards to flexible benefits programs is that
Only high-risk employees will participate in expensive benefits, which will drive premiums up
A major factor contributing to the growth of employee benefit programs was
wage control during WWII
The Medicare program was created in 1965 as an amendment to
the Social Security Act of 1935.
To encourage individuals to establish their own retirement accounts, tax laws provide that money put into an IRA is only taxed
upon withdrawal.
The Mental Health Parity Act requires that
mental health benefits be comparable to medical and surgical health benefits.
Worker’s Compensation benefits are determined by
state laws.
According to the equal pay act, employees of the opposite sex doing two different jobs that require comparable skill levels and have comparable worth to the organization…
may be paid different amounts.
The Family and Medical Leave Act requires that companies allow covered employees to take unpaid leave for family and medical reasons except for…
Taking care of an ill parent-in-law
Minimum wage is a part of which law?
Fair Labor Standards Act
When minimum wage laws cause the lower end of the wage curve to rise so that all jobs are paid the minimum
Direct effect of minimum wage increase
Which law is commonly referred to as the “Wage and Hour” law?
Fair Labor Standards Act
The Pregnancy Discrimination in Employment Act requires employers to
treat pregnancy like other medical conditions for benefits purposes.
The privilege of transferring money invested in one company pension plan to another company’s plan when an employee changes company is called
Portability
An event that triggers COBRA coverage
Qualifying event
The hourly rate of those paid on a piece rate basis is calculated by
Hours spent/money earned. Over time is one and half times that rate.
Whether an employee is classified as exempt or nonexempt under the FLSA is determined by
Duties and responsibilities.
What are right-to-work laws?
Laws that prohibit the collective bargaining agreements requiring employees to be union members.
The process of de-certifying a union involves
a majority vote of union members opposing union representation.
During the 1800s, employers required employees to sign a statement saying they weren’t members of a union nor would they join.
Yellow-Dog Contracts
Federal law that prohibited employers from engaging in 5 unfair labor practices
Wagner Act
The AFLCIO is
a federation of unions.
What percentage of the workforce must sign authorization cards before the NLRB will hold a representation election?
30%
Management prerogatives refer to
Topics and issues management believes it has exclusive rights to decide.
A union security provision that requires new employees to join the union within 30 days of being hired.
Union Shop
The arrangement where all union and nonunion employees are required to pay union dues
Agency Shop
In the early 1800s, the “Conspiracy Doctrine” held that
Labor unions were an illegal conspiracy in restraint of trade.
Featherbedding is prohibited by which federal law?
Taft-Hartley Act
Strikes that threaten national security can be stopped by the President for
80 days
The overriding intent of NLRB rules and regulations governing the restrictions on unions and employers during an organizing campaign is
to allow employees to express their preferences after hearing both sides
Concession bargaining refers to agreeing to
accept reduced wages to keep the company profitable
Bargaining issues such as wages, salaries, and pensions are
mandatory bargaining issues that can be bargained to an impasse.
Mass picketing is defined by the courts as having how many people involved?
The courts have not identified a specific number
Boycotts are powerful weapons for unions, but the danger in using them is that
public support for the company may be damaged for a long time.
A bargaining situation in which each side struggles for the largest share of the rewards at the expense of the other.
Distributive Bargaining
Management prerogatives refer to:
Topics and issues that management believes it has exclusive rights to decide.
Which types of strikes are illegal?
Jurisdicictional, certification, wildcat
The concept of “just cause” in employee discipline refers to
disciplinary action that is taken for good and sufficient reason.
A neutral, independent person assigned to listen to complains of employees, investigate the problems, and help to correct them is called
an ombudsman.
Grievance arbitration is criticized because
it takes too long and costs too much.
Which of the following would NOT generally be defined as a grievance in a union company?
A complaint by one worker that customers preferred another worker.
Research shows what to be true of the relationship between supervisors’ leadership style and grievance rates?
Autocratic leaders tend to have a lower grievance rate because they administer the labor agreement in a more authoritative fashion
Which of the following principles is NOT part of an effective disciplinary system?
The responsibility to initiate disciplinary action should be delegated to the employee relations specialists
In large corporations, MOST formal grievances are resolved at which step in the grievance process?
First step. Usually complaints are settled by a simple discussion with the supervisor.
The FINAL step in most grievance procedures involving union members is
binding arbitration.
What are the typical effects of punitive discipline on motivation and performance levels?
It improves performance but only to a minimum acceptable standard.
The FIRST step in an organization’s progressive discipline process is typically
a verbal warning.
What is least likely to result in disciplinary action?
Profane and obscene language that is a customary part of “shop talk” and occurs frequently.
What is generally true of the relationship between unemployment rates and employee turnover?
When unemployment increases, turnover decreases
If an employer gives false and derogatory reasons for firing an employee, and then that employee is required to tell another prospective employer the reasons why he or she was fired, the employee may be able to sue the first employer for
Compelled self-defamation.
Sexual harassment is prohibited by
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
What is involuntary absenteeism?
Missing work for reasons beyond the employee’s control
True or False: All federal employees must join a union if it wins a representation election.
False
Employees with alcohol problems that affect their job performance should be
required to accept help in order to keep their job.
The type of sexual harassment that occurs when one person offers something to another in return for sexual favors is called
Quid pro quo
The PRIMARY functions of the Federal Labor Relations Council are
supervising elections of federal employees and deciding unfair labor practices.
An implied contract in an employee handbook may jeopardize a company’s ________ status.
Employment-at-will
What is true regarding job satisfaction?
Employees with a strong work ethic report greater job satisfaction
Research on the effects of job sharing suggests that
productivity and satisfaction increase while absenteeism and turnover decrease.
The two most important statistics for analyzing the results of a job-attitude survey are
the mean and standard deviation
The basic difference between job enrichment and job enlargement is
enlargement=adding more tasks at the same level; enrichment=adding more responsibilities
Giving workers greater authority and discretion by allowing them to perform functions previously reserved for higher levels of management is called
vertical loading
Exit interviews should be conducted by
someone who has not been directly involved with the departing employee.
Which of the following would be the most appropriate topic for discussion in an employee-involvement committee?
New equipment acquisition (anything not bargain able)
The Bureau of labor statistics (BLS) defines part-time employment as a job consisting of less than how many hours per week?
35
A group of workers that meets on a regular basis to develop new production procedures and ways to improve the quality of the product is called
a quality circle.
What is the MOST prevalent problem associated with the use of employee attitude surveys?
Survey results are not responded to by management.
Studies examining the effectiveness of OSHA indicate that
accidental deaths at work have decreased since OSHA,, but they had also been decreasing before OSHA.
Accident statistics indicated that the employee MOST LIKELY to be involved in accidents are
new employees.
The basic concept underlying workers’ compensation laws is
liability without fault.
OSHA’s penalty for a willful violation that results in the death of an employee can be as much as
$70,000 and/or six months in prison.
Incidence rates are calculated by dividing the number of injuries or illnesses that occur by
the total hours worked by all employees and then multiplying by 200,000.
What are the effects of financial incentives and other extrinsic rewards on safety?
Modest incentives and feedback tend to improve safety.
Where do the FEWEST accident occur?
At work.
Which of the following statements is TRUE about OSHA inspections?
Employers can require OSHA to have a search warrant.
For each hazardous chemical that it uses or stores, employers are required to maintain
a material safety data sheet.
The Drug-Free Workplace Act requires all of the following EXCEPT
that all employees submit to random drug testing.
A critical job-related emotional health problem for such jobs as counselors, social workers, and others in the helping professions that is similar to boredom for blue-collar workers is called
Burnout
A stress management technique that provides information about internal body processes in a way that helps individuals control them is called
Biofeedback
Private employers have greater freedom than public employers to perform drug tests because
of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution (unlawful search and seizure)
Which of the following is the most serious health problem caused by video display terminals?
Eye strain
The last stage of the General Adaptation Syndrome is
Exhaustion (if a stressor continues, the body exhausts its ability to adapt)
What are the characteristics of an effective employee assistance program?
Staffed with competent people, accessible 24/7, advertised to all employees and family members, complete confidentiality maintained, willing to meet wherever the employee or dependent would be most comfortable.
The Supreme Court has ruled that reasonable accommodation for communicable diseases, such as AIDS and TB, excludes consideration of the following factor:
Reactions of co-workers to infected employees.
In order to meet HIPPA requirements, wellness programs that based rewards on health factors must
Give eligible individuals the opportunity to qualify for the reward at least once per year.
No-smoking policies have generally been accepted and successfully implemented when companies do all of the following
Explain why they are important, provide advance notice giving several months for employees to accept it, and provide assistance to help employees quit smoking.
The benefits of regular exercise include:
Resting heart rate is lowered, elasticity of the arteries is increased, blood cholesterol level is lowered, heart muscle is strengthened, etc.
The first step in developing a security system for a company is to perform a
vulnerability analysis
If an employer restricted the movement of a suspected thief and detained this person for an unreasonable length of time, the employer could be charged with
false imprisonment
When are employers allowed to monitor the telephone calls of their employees?
When they are evaluating employees’ job performance on job-related calls.
A rating computed for each employer that is based on the number of unemployment compensation claims is the
experience rating.
Which security incidents are typically ignored since the risks are trivial and the losses seldom occur?
Low frequency, low risk.
What is false about the value of alarms?
Alarms are not helpful when they signal every security breach, including minor ones.
Before requesting a consumer report, employers are required to
obtain signed permission from employees or job applicants.
Investigations of fraud that involve senior management should be conducted by
outside investigators.
A security breach occurs when
an officer takes no action and there is a threat.
Which of the following is a method of preventing computer security breaches via the Internet?
a firewall.
