Topic 10: Employment Benefits and Protections

Question 1

Abuse of Discretion

Answer 1

An employer’s failure to consider important and relevant facts; acting in an arbitrary or capricious manner.

Question 2

Assumption of the Risk

Answer 2

An employer defense that states an employee knows and accepts the risk of potential injury in a certain position.

Question 3

Compensatory Time

Answer 3

An option for public employers to allow time off for employees instead of payment.

Question 4

Compliance Requirement

Answer 4

A mandate that all employers comply with all safety and health requirements issued by the Department of Labor.

Question 5

Conciliation

Answer 5

Process where a third party acts as an intermediary between the parties to a labor dispute, helping them to reach a settlement.

Question 6

Conglomerate

Answer 6

A highly diversified firm that has multiple businesses with no relationships.

Question 7

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)

Answer 7

Enacted in 1986, it allows an employee to extend company health care benefits for up to eighteen months after he or she leaves a job.

Question 8

Continual Training Requirement

Answer 8

A mandate that all employers provide training to workers on a periodic basis and whenever an employee is hired or assigned to a new job.

Question 9

Continuous Leave

Answer 9

A type of leave in which an employee is absent from work for a continuous length of time.

Question 10

Contributory Negligence

Answer 10

An employer defense that an employee’s errant conduct contributed to a workplace injury.

Question 11

Course of Employment

Answer 11

Any action by an employee that furthers an employer’s business.

Question 12

Defined Benefit Pension Plan

Answer 12

A type of pension plan that provides a fixed amount payment upon retirement.

Question 13

Defined Contribution Pension Plan

Answer 13

A type of pension plan in which an employer sets aside a certain amount each year for the employee, to be distributed upon retirement.

Question 14

Discovery

Answer 14

Procedures for gathering facts prior to the time of trial in order to eliminate the element of surprise in litigation.

Question 15

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Answer 15

Enacted in 1974, it protects worker benefits and encourages employer management of retirement funds.

Question 16

Escalator Principle

Answer 16

A provision of USERRA that requires an employer to place a returning veteran in positions that he or she may have attained, absent the military leave.

Question 17

Exempted Employee

Answer 17

Employees who are fully or partially free from FLSA provisions.

Question 18

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Answer 18

Enacted in 1938, it protects workers from unfair wages, limits abusive overtime practices, and prevents child labor.

Question 19

False Claims Act (FCA)

Answer 19

Enacted in 1863, this federal law imposes liability on entities that defraud governmental programs.

Question 20

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Answer 20

Enacted in 1993, this federal law governs leave for employees due to parental and medical necessity.

Question 21

Federal Whistleblower Statute

Answer 21

Enacted in 1982, it protects contractor employees from employment discrimination or retaliation for reporting company violations of the law.

Question 22

Fellow Servant Rule

Answer 22

An employer defense that another employee, not the employer, caused a workplace injury.

Question 23

Fiduciaries

Answer 23

An entity that acts as a guardian or caretaker.

Question 24

General Duty Clause

Answer 24

Requires employers to provide their employees with a safe and hazard-free place of employment.

Question 25

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Answer 25

Enacted in 1996, it establishes standards in the health industry for gathering, processing, retaining, and disclosing private health information.

Question 26

Intermittent Leave

Answer 26

A type of leave in which an employee is intermittently absent from work.

Question 27

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)

Answer 27

Enacted in 1970, it governs safety in all businesses and created the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Question 28

Opportunity Wage

Answer 28

An exception to the minimum wage law that applies to employees under twenty years old.

Question 29

Qualifying Event

Answer 29

An event that entitles an employee to twelve weeks unpaid leave.

Question 30

Serious Health Condition

Answer 30

An incapacitating illness, injury, or impairment that requires overnight care or continuing treatment from a health care provider.

Question 31

Summary Plan Document (SPD)

Answer 31

A document issued from an employer to an employee that contains information about an employee’s benefits.

Question 32

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)

Answer 32

Enacted in 1994, it prevents any employer from discriminating against someone who is or has been in military service.

Question 33

Vesting

Answer 33

The conveying of an employee’s rights to benefits or contributions after a certain amount of time.

Question 34

Whistleblower

Answer 34

Individual who reports real or perceived wrongs committed by the employer.

Question 35

Whistleblowing

Answer 35

The action of an employee to report the wrongdoings of an employer.

Question 36

Worker’s Compensation

Answer 36

A form of insurance that provides wage replacement and medical benefits for employees injured while at work in exchange for relinquishment of the right to sue the employer for negligence.

Question 37

Workweek

Answer 37

Any consecutive seven-day period.