Practice Exam - Terms to Review Flashcards
H-1B visa
Applicants are eligible if they possess a bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent and work in a specialty occupation as defined as USCIS. It is valid for 3 years, then renewable for another 3 years for a total of 6 years.
Expectancy theory of motivation
An individual’s choice is driven by how desirable the outcome is.
PAPA Model
- Park: The slow things that have a low probability of happening, we park. We do not forget about them.
- Adapt: The slow things that we know will happen or are highly likely to happen, we adapt to those trends.
- Prepare: The things that have a low probability of happening, but, if they do, they materialize fast, we need to be prepared for this – make contingency plans and apply early warnings and whatever mitigation we can put in place to make sure that we can cover these should they materialize, but they are not expected to.
- Act: High-probability and fast-moving things that we need to act on now in order to make sure the strategy will be relevant.
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Balanced scorecard
Shows if the HR strategy is in alignment with and supports the company’s strategic direction. It can be used to assess the performance of the HR department and gauge the value it provides for the organization.
Codetermination
A practice where workers of an enterprise have the right to vote for representatives on the board of directors.
Asynchronous learning
Employees can access the material anytime anywhere
Synchronous learning
Employees go through the training material at the same time and communicate with each other in real time.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)
Insurance for companies that protects them in case they get sued by an employee. It covers legal costs and settlement fees related to the suit.
Value chain
The sum of all interrelated actions, inputs, and processes that contribute to the design, creation, and production of a product or service until it is received by a customer.
Short-form application
For applications that are completed in-house (internal applicants), short-form applications are usually best. The company will already have most of the employee’s information on file and simply needs a formal application for the new job rather than an extensive application detailing information the company already has.
Job-specific application
used largely for hiring a number of employees for similar positions
Brown bag meeting
considered a bottom-up form of communication. Employees are invited to take part in the discussion and share their ideas.
Line of sight
exists when employees feel that their performance will determine their compensation in the future. Companies in which employees have line of sight tend to have higher levels of performance.
Patterned interview
covers a predetermined set of subjects, but does not adhere to a script. The interviewer will know in advance what topics are to be discussed, but will not have a list of questions to be asked verbatim.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
Was intended to improve accounting practices within public companies. One of the consequences of this act is that CEOs may be punished for fraudulent financial reports. This act was passed in 2002 after several large corporations, most notably Enron, collapsed under the weight of unethical accounting and executive mismanagement. The intention of this act was to make top officials culpable for dishonest and reckless accounting. It explicitly forbade employees from trading stocks during pension fund blackout periods, and asserted that companies must have their stock appraised by a certified external organization. The act also declared that audit partner assignments must alternate every five years.
Rehabilitation act
Penalized businesses for discriminating against employees who have a disability.
Responsibility of the DOJ
Enforcing privacy laws
Responsibility of the EEOC
Enforces civil rights laws and defends workers against discrimination in the workplace. More reactive than the OFCCP – investigates individual claims of discrimination.
Responsibility of the OFCCP
Also enforces civil rights laws. Main difference with the EEOC is that the OFCCP’s mission is to work with federal contractors to proactively promote equal employment opportunities.
Responsibility of the Federal Trade Commission
Enforces antitrust laws and protects consumers
Responsibility of the DOL
Enforces labor laws pertaining to workplace safety, wage laws, federally required benefits, and other worker related protections. Polygraph testing also fall under the DOL.
Responsibility of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Covers workplace security (primarily financial security) and is responsible for enforcing corporate governance.
Trade Adjustment Assistance
Established in 2002 to help those adversely affected by the rise in imported goods. If three or more workers from the same business meet the eligibility requirements, they may receive retraining and employment advice at federal centers.
Requirements:
- The employer’s sales must have declined
- Applicable only to manufacturing sector workers
- Increased imports must have caused job loss
Federal Register
The Daily Journal of the US Government where proposed rules, significant documents, notices, and other public information is posted by federal agencies and bodies. Administrative laws take effect 30 days after being published in the Federal Register.
Delphi Technique
Method of decision-making where a panel of anonymous experts is given a short questionnaire. Their written responses are subjected to another series of questions. This process continues until a consensus is reached. This technique is good for getting a wide range of honest perspectives, and is convenient when the participants are geographically distant from one another.
Positive time reporting
Method of reporting the Department of Labor prefers with regard to time worked by employees who are nonexempt under FLSA. This method is considered more effective because it gives a clear indication of the hours worked, without the need for any calculation.
Binding arbitration
Both parties agree to accept whatever decision is reached by the third-party judge
Compulsory arbitration
Exists when the terms of a contract dictate that any future disputes will be settled through arbitration
Ad hoc arbitration
A one-time dispute resolution aimed at handling one particular problem.
OSHA Form 300
Intended to be a log of work-related injuries and illnesses
OSHA Form 300A
Intended to be a summary of work-related injuries and illnesses
OSHA Form 301
Intended to be an injury and illness incident report
Fundamental attribution error
Tendency to assign more responsibility for negative behavior to personality or effort rather than to environment. It creates problems for organizations when managers punish poor performers rather than try to resolve the issues that are responsible for the poor performance.
Union election bar: Blocking-charge bar
Occurs when an unfair labor practice remains pending.
Union election bar: voluntary-recognition bar
Occurs when the employer voluntarily recognizes the union as the primary bargaining unit for employees.
Union election bar: certification-year bar
Results when the NLRB has recently recognized and certified a representative for bargaining on behalf of the union.
Union election bar: prior-petition bar
Results when the union withdraws an election request petition and resubmits it.
Physician hospital organization
Makes contract arrangements directly with employers. In this system, physicians and hospitals act as a single entity.
Limited liability partnership
Partners exist mainly as investors, without much influence on daily operations.
Call-back pay
Defined as pay provided for employees who must come into work beyond the scheduled work hours.
On-call pay
Defined as pay provided for employees who respond to a work situation at short notice.
Reporting pay
Defined as pay legally required whether or not an employer has immediate work available for an employee.
Content Validity
Simply a test that measures whether or not a candidate is qualified to complete an important part of the job.
Construct validity
The measurement of the relationship between the characteristics of each employee and his actual performance in the position
Organizational picketing
Persuade the employer to recognition of the picketing union as the collective bargaining union, usually amongst other unions.
Informational picketing
Seeks to inform the public of a matter of concern
Recognitional picketing
Seeks union recognition from the employer
Blake-Mouton managerial grid axes
People and production
Defined benefit plan
Voluntary benefit program that utilizes a typical pension plan in which the employer adds an established benefit to the plan when the employee retires. Employer payouts for the plan are guaranteed once certain conditions are met.
Weeks v. Southern Bell Telephone Company
Fifth Circuit determined that a company may not claim physical difficulty as a bona fide occupational qualification in order to keep women out of certain jobs. This case centered on a woman who was denied an available position within the company because it entailed some heavy lifting. She asserted that this was discrimination. They company admitted prima facie discrimination but argued unsuccessfully that the ability to lift heavy objects was a bona fide occupational qualification.
Stakeholder mapping
A tool used to identify the value an initiative would have for a stakeholder as well as the investment and influence the stakeholder would have in promoting the initiative.
Principled bargaining
Occurs when groups negotiate a contract while being aware and mindful of the key issues to each side.
Principled bargaining is a process of finding solutions so that both sides gain from the agreement.
Coordinated bargaining
Bargaining that occurs when multiple unions within one organization meet to negotiate as one group to benefit all employees.
Multi-employer bargaining
Occurs when a union with employees at multiple companies meets with all the companies in one negotiation.
Whipsawing/leapfrogging/parallel bargaining
When a union successfully negotiates an agreement with a company and then uses these results to deal with another company.
Change management technique: normative-reeducative strategy
Used when a change is related to cultural norms and social values
Change management technique: empirical-rational strategy
Used to educate individuals with the alternative options that will incentivize them to move to the new change.
Change management technique: environmental-adaptive strategy
Used when there is an organizational change such as layoffs or retirements and the remaining employees need to adapt.
Change management technique: power-coercive strategy
When an instruction as to what is expected is given and what could occur if these changes do not happen.
Quality assurance
The process of establishing a relevant, unbiased system of data collection. Quality assurance ensures that the data collected is applicable and appropriate to the outcome.
Which data collection method has a risk of low engagement or facilitator bias?
Focus group
Focus groups work to solicit feedback and opinions about certain topics while engaging the group through a facilitator. Unfortunately, focus groups run the risk of low participation or engagement and could have an issue with facilitator bias.
Value stream map
Shows the purpose of each stage and defines the value of each step of the process.
Value stream maps help to show where there is waste or unnecessary actions within the entire process to allow a more streamlined and efficient process.
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
Required to include any potential hazards of the product and how to work with the product safely.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
Federal legislation designed to establish a higher level of accountability and standards for public institution boards and senior management.
SOX was established to ensure high-level executives are held responsible for accounting misconduct, record manipulation, or inappropriate financial practices.
Two most common workplace safety risks
Bloodborne pathogens
Tripping hazards
Evaluation factors for Corporate Social Responsibility
People, planet, profit (aka the triple bottom line)
Which service model allows HR to have a presence within different business units?
Decentralized
Which of the following service models allows HR to have one corporate presence over the entire organization?
Centralized
Matrixed service model of HR
Uses both a centralized and decentralized service model.
Matrixed service models can be instrumental in ensuring that an organization employing individuals in various locations gives all its employees access to HR support while also ensuring one HR message/vision is implemented.
Three primary areas of functions HR performs
Transactional, tactical, and strategic.
Within each of these areas, HR provides support in education, training, supervision, and other areas.
What type of HR work is administrative and includes payroll and benefits administration?
Transactional
Transactional HR work is administrative in nature and includes services such as payroll and benefits administration. Transactional work can include preparing and processing new-hire paperwork, employee benefits enrollment or updating benefits selections, and entering performance evaluations into a tracking system.
What are the two approaches used by HR to fill skills gaps within an organization?
Buy and build
Buy (external) - refers to recruiting and onboarding new staff with specific skills
Build (internal) - refers to developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the current employees.
Outplacement services
Provide career counseling, resume writing, and interview preparation to assist separated employees with future employment.
Decertification
The process employees can begin in order to strip the union of its official status as their representative.
Front pay
Money awarded to an individual that is generally equal to potential lost earnings and is usually required when a position is not available or an employer has not made any effort to address ongoing issues.
Front pay could also be warranted if the employee would be forced to endure a hostile work environment if returned to the original position.
Timeframe for employers to provide an initial COBRA notice
90 days
FLSA Age Categories
Under 14
14 and 15
16 and 17
18 and over
Cliff vesting
Refers to employees becoming 100% vested after a specific number of years of service.
Cliff vesting has one eligibility point related to years of service, and once that is met, the employee is fully vested in the benefit.
Graded vesting
Refers to a set schedule in which employees become vested at a certain percentage for each year of service
Types of penalties for not complying with COBRA requirements
Civil and criminal penalties
An employee must work for ___ years to qualify for Social Security
10 years (or 40 quarters)
Medicare Part A
Mandatory hospital insurance coverage that most individuals do not have to pay for once qualified
Medicare Part D
Voluntary prescription drug coverage that individuals pay a monthly fee for.
Part D is available to those who are eligible for Part A and also enrolled in Part B.
Medicare Part B
Voluntary medical insurance that covers health care expenses, such as outpatient care and physicians’ services. Individuals pay a monthly fee for this coverage.
Under the Equal Pay Act, what are the four areas that must be equal to establish whether jobs are equivalent to each other?
Skill
Working conditions
Effort
Responsibility
De minimus
A type of OSHA violation issued when a condition is investigated to show that it is not directly and immediately related to an employee’s health or safety and no fine or citation is required.
Other-than-serious violation
OSHA violation issued when a condition is investigated to show that it could impact an employee’s health or safety but probably would not result in death or serious harm.
Constructive confrontation
A form of mediation that is used in specific circumstances (e.g. and employee dispute that has resulted in an impasse. Neither side is willing to consider compromise or accept anything other than their specific resolution).
Constructive confrontation can break stalemates by working through secondary or tertiary issues instead of focusing on the primary issue.
Dual system
Method of codetermination
There is a supervisory board (as many as half may be workers; can accept or reject management board’s decisions) and the typical management board
Single-tier system
Method of codetermination
There is only one board of directors which includes employees as members
Mixed system
Method of codetermination
Employee representation exists but they are only included as advisors in a non-voting capacity
McGregor’s Theory X
Theory that assumes employees inherently do not like to work and must be controlled
McGregor’s Theory Y
Theory that assumes employees inherently want to do their best
