Vocab3 Flashcards
Ricci v. DeStefano
Supreme Court ruling that employers may violate Title VII when they engage in race-conscious decision making to address adverse impact unless they can demonstrate a “strong basis in evidence†that, had they not taken the action, they would have been liable under a disparate impact theory.
Right to work
Refers to statutes that prohibit unions from making union membership a condition of employment.
Risk management
Identification, evaluation, and control of risk that may affect an organization, typically incorporating the use of insurance and other strategies.
Risk management scorecard
Tool used to make calculated judgments based on the probability that a circumstance will occur and the potential consequences.
Roth 401(k)/403(b) plans
Plans that allow after-tax contributions to existing 401(k) or 403(b) plans.
Roth IRA
Account providing tax-free income growth; contributions are made with after-tax dollars.
S-shaped curve
Type of learning curve in which learning occurs in a series of increasing and decreasing returns; usually seen when an employee is attempting to learn a difficult task that also requires specific insight.
Safe harbor
Provision in a law or regulation that provides some measure of protection from liability if certain conditions are met.
Safety
Freedom from hazard, risk, or injury.
Safety committees
Composed of workers from different levels and departments who are involved in safety planning and programs.
Salary
Uniform amount of money paid to a worker regardless of how many hours are worked.
Salary compression
Occurs when there is only a small difference in pay between employees regardless of their skills, experience, or seniority; also known as pay compression.
Sales
Business function responsible for selling an organization’s product to the marketplace.
Salting
Process of using paid union organizers to infiltrate an organization and organize its workers.
Sample
Portion of a population used to draw conclusions regarding an entire population.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
Act that changed corporate governance and reporting standards and underscored board of director’s responsibility to help ensure financial accountability, accuracy, and compliance.
Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE)
Retirement plan by which employees can contribute each year to a 401(k) plan or IRA.
Scatter diagram
Illustration that depicts possible relationships between two variables.
Scheduling
To an operations department, the act of detailed planning; based upon incoming orders, order history, and forecasts of future demand.
School Board of Nassau v. Arline
Supreme Court ruling that persons with contagious diseases could be covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
School-to-work programs
Allow organizations to partner with communities and schools to help develop the skilled workforce they will need for the future.
Secondary boycotts
When a union attempts to influence an employer by exerting pressure on another employer.
Secondary research
Uses data already gathered by others and reported in various sources.
Section 125 benefit plans
Written benefit plans maintained by the employer that allow employees to use pretax dollars to pay for certain qualified benefits.
Section 7 rights
Rights under NLRA that allow employees to engage or not engage in union activity.
Securities and Exchange Act
Act that regulated “insider trading.â€
Security
Physical/procedural measures used to protect people, property, and information in the workplace.
Segmented bargaining
When employer and union decide to assign specific bargaining issues to committees; proposals are then returned to entire group for decision.
Selection
Process of hiring the most suitable candidate for a vacant position.
Selection interview
Interview designed to probe areas of interest to interviewer in order to determine how well a job candidate meets the needs of the organization.
Self-directed team
Group of people that works in a self-managing way; typically assume complete autonomy.
Self-funded health-care plan
Health-care plan in which the employer takes on the role of the insurance company and assumes some or all of the risk.
Seniority
System that shows preference to employees with the longest service.
Serious health condition
As defined in DOL regulations, a condition that involves employee incapacity for more than three calendar days plus “two visits to a health-care provider.â€
Serious violation
Violation of an OSHA standard that is likely to cause death or serious injury on the job.
Service Contract Act
Act that extended prevailing wage rate and benefit requirements to employers providing services under federal government contracts.
Severance package
Set of benefits provided to employees who are terminated for some reason other than cause.
Sexual harassment
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Act that curbed concentrations of power that interfered with trade and reduced economic competition; directed at large monopolistic employers but applied by courts to labor unions.
Shift pay
Supplemental pay paid to employees who work less-desirable hours, such as second or third shifts.
Short-term disability (STD) coverage
Replaces a portion of lost income for a specified period of time for employees who are ill or have nonwork-related injuries.
Short-term objectives
Milestones that must be achieved, usually within six months to one year, in order to reach long-term objectives.
Sick building syndrome (SBS)
Situation in which building occupants experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building but no specific illness or cause can be identified.
Sick leave
Specified period of time during which employees who are ill or have nonwork-related injuries receive their full salary.
Simple linear regression
Projection of future demand based on a past relationship; involves a single variable.
Simplified Employee Pension (SEP)
Tax-deferred account to which the self-employed and employees of very small businesses can contribute.
Simulations
Representations of real situations; give organizations the opportunity to speculate as to what would happen if certain courses of action were pursued.
Single-rate pay
Provides each incumbent of a job with the same rate of pay, regardless of performance or seniority; also known as flat-rate pay.
Situational interview
Type of interview in which interviewer asks questions designed to elicit stories and examples that demonstrate the applicant’s skills and qualifications.
Six Sigma
Disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects.
Skill banks
Computerized talent or skill inventories that can furnish a list of qualified people.
Skill tracking systems
Computerized talent or skill inventories that can furnish a list of qualified people.
Skill variety
Extent to which a job requires a variety of different activities for successful completion.
Skip-level interviews
Practice in union-free organizations of encouraging managers to spend time with each employee two levels below them on an annual basis.
Small Business Job Protection Act (SBJPA)
Act that made changes to rules regarding the ability of tax-exempt organizations to institute retirement plans modeled after 401(k) and IRA accounts and to the definition of highly compensated employees.
Smith v. Jackson, Mississippi
Case in which Supreme Court held that Age Discrimination in Employment Act authorizes recovery on a disparate impact theory but with narrower scope than that provided under Title VII.
Social engineering
Collection of manipulative techniques used to gain access to private or confidential information, often without face-to-face interaction.
Social media
Collectively describes a variety of online Internet technology platforms and communities that people use to communicate and share information and resources.
Social Security
Social Security Administration program that provides retirement, disability, death, and survivor’s benefits.
Span of control
Refers to the number of individuals who report to a supervisor.
St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks
Court ruling that Title VII plaintiff must show that discrimination was the real reason for an employer’s actions.
Staff units
Work groups that assist line units by providing specialized services, such as HR.
Staffing
HR function that identifies organizational human capital needs and attempts to provide an adequate supply of qualified individuals for jobs in an organization.
Standard deviation
Measure that indicates how much scores in a set of data are spread out around a mean or average.
Standards
For an operations department, provide the yardstick by which the amount and quality of output are measured.
State (public) employment agencies
Agencies that provide employee screening, testing, and referral at no cost to the employer.
State plans
Safety and health policies and procedures that states have adopted and that have been approved by OSHA.
Stereotyping
Type of interviewer bias that involves forming generalized opinions about how people of a given gender, religion, or race appear, think, act, feel, or respond.
Stop-loss coverage
Insurance policy that protects employers with partially self-funded insurance plans by limiting individual and group-wide claims.
Strategic business management
Processes and activities used to formulate HR objectives, practices, and policies.
Strategic planning
Process that helps an organization focus on how to succeed in the future by evaluating the organization’s current status, where it would like to be, and how to get there.
Strategies
Provide the direction that enables an organization to achieve its long-term objectives.
Stress
Mental and physical condition that results from a real or perceived threat and the inability to remove it or cope with it.
Stress interview
Type of interview in which interviewer assumes an aggressive posture to see how a candidate responds to stressful situations.
Strictness
Error that occurs when an appraiser believes standards are too low and inflates the standards in an effort to make them meaningful.
Strike
Refusal by employees to work.
Structured interview
Type of interview in which interviewer asks every applicant the same questions; also called a repetitive interview.
Subject matter expert (SME)
Person who is well versed in the content of a human resource development program.
Substance abuse tests
Measures intended to ensure a drug-free workplace.
Succession planning
A talent management strategy to help identify and foster the development of high-potential employees.
Sunset clause
Identified time period and ending point in incentive pay plans.
Supplemental unemployment benefits (SUB)
Benefits paid to unemployed workers beyond required government unemployment benefits.
Supplemental wages
Pay beyond base salary or wages such as bonuses and commissions.
Supply chain
Network that delivers products and services from raw materials to end customers through an engineered flow of information, physical distribution, and cash.
SWOT analysis
Process for evaluating an organization’s current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Sympathy strike
Strike by employees of a bargaining unit who refuse to cross picket lines made up of employees who are not members of their bargaining unit.
Synchronous learning
Type of e-learning in which participants interact together in real time.
Synthesis
Level of learning at which the learner is able to respond to new situations and determine trouble-shooting techniques and solutions.
Taft-Hartley Act
Act that provides balance of power between union and management by designating certain union activities as unfair labor practices; also known as Labor-Management Relations Act (LMRA).
Tagout
Signs or labels attached to equipment to warn others not to activate it.
Talent management
Development and integration of HR processes that attract, develop, engage, and retain the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees that will meet current and future business needs.
Targeted interview
Type of interview in which interviewer asks each applicant questions that are from the same knowledge, skill, or ability area; also called patterned interview.
Task force
Temporary allocation of personnel and resources for the accomplishment of a specific objective.
Task identity
Extent to which a job requires a “whole,†identifiable unit of work.
Task significance
Extent to which a job has a substantial impact on other people.
Tax Reform Act
Act that made significant changes in employee benefit programs, especially retirement plans.
Taxable wages
All remuneration for services (including noncash benefits) that is taxable when paid.
Taxman v. Board of Education of Piscataway
Court ruling that nonremedial affirmative action plan cannot form the basis for deviating from the antidiscrimination mandate of Title VII.
Taxpayer Relief Act (TRA)
Act that created tax-advantaged savings mechanisms.
Team
Set of two or more people who are equally accountable for accomplishment of a purpose and specific performance goals.
Team interview
Type of interview used in situations where the position relies heavily on team cooperation; supervisors, subordinates, and peers are usually part of the process.
Telecommuting
Working via computing and telecommunications equipment.
Teratogens
Products that affect a fetus but not the pregnant mother.
Terrorism
Use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of the criminal laws of the United States for purposes of intimidation, coercion, or ransom.
Theory of constraints (TOC)
Systems management philosophy that states that every organization is hindered by constraints that come from its internal policies.
Third-country nationals (TCNs)
Employees who are citizens of countries other than where they work or where the organization’s headquarters resides.
Time-based differential pay
Pay rates that are affected by when an employee works.
Time-based step-rate pay
System in which pay is based on longevity in the job and pay increases occur on a predetermined schedule.
TIPS
Acronym used by many labor management attorneys and consultants that covers most of the unfair labor practice pitfalls a supervisor can run into—don’t Threaten, Interrogate, Promise, or Spy.
Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination or segregation based on race, color, national origin, religion, and sex in all terms and conditions of employment.
Top hat plan
Nonqualified deferred compensation plan that provides retirement benefits to select group of management or highly compensated employees.
Total quality management (TQM)
Strategic, integrated management system for achieving customer satisfaction that involves all managers and employees and uses quantitative methods to continuously improve an organization’s processes.
Total rewards
All forms of financial and nonfinancial returns that employees receive from their employers.
Totalization agreements
Bilateral social security agreements that coordinate the U.S. Social Security program with the comparable programs of other countries; also known as international social security agreements.
Trainability
Readiness to learn, combining students’ level of ability and motivation with their perceptions of the work environment.
Training
Process of providing knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) specific to a task or job.
Transactional leadership
Leadership style that offers the promise of reward or the threat of discipline to motivate employees.
Transfer of training
Effective and continuing on-the-job application of the knowledge and skills gained during a learning experience.
Transformational leadership
Leadership style that motivates employees by inspiring them to join in a mutually satisfying achievement.
Travel pay
Typically paid to nonexempt workers for the time they spend traveling to or between work assignments.
Trend and ratio analyses
Use of statistics to determine whether relationships exist between two variables.
Tuberculosis (TB)
Airborne contagious disease caused by a bacterial infection.
Turnover
Annualized formula that tracks number of separations and total number of workforce employees per month.
Underwater
Describes a stock option when the stock’s current market value is less than the option’s exercise price.
Unemployment Compensation Amendments (UCA)
Imposed a mandatory 20% federal income tax withholding requirement on most qualified retirement plan proceeds that a recipient does not roll over into another qualified retirement plan or individual retirement account.
Unemployment insurance
Mandatory benefit program set up as part of the Social Security Act designed to provide employees with some income when they lose their jobs through no fault of their own.
Unfair competition
Deals with employment contracts that contain covenants not to compete after termination of employment relationship and with the use of secret, confidential, or proprietary information that the employee obtained while working for the former employer.
Unfair labor practice (ULP)
Violation of rights under labor-relations statutes.
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
Procedural document designed to assist employers in complying with federal regulations prohibiting discrimination.
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
Act that protects the employment, reemployment, and retention rights of persons who serve or have served in the uniformed services.
Union
Formal labor organization that has the right to represent and bargain for a group of employees.
Union security clauses
Provisions in a collective bargaining agreement designed to protect the institutional authority or survival of the union (e.g., making union membership or payment of dues compulsory for all or some of the employees in a bargaining unit).
Union shop
Clause that states that when workers take jobs in a specific bargaining unit, they must join the union and pay union dues within a certain period of time.
United Steelworkers v. Weber
Court ruling dealing with reverse discrimination charges; upheld that Title VII allows for voluntary, private, race-conscious programs aimed at eliminating racial imbalance in traditionally segregated job categories.
Unsafe acts
Incidents that result from unsafe behavior on the part of the employee, such as operating equipment at high speeds.
Unsafe conditions
Mechanical or physical hazards that may lead to injury, such as defective equipment or improper lighting.
Unweighted average
Raw average of data that gives equal weight to all factors, with no regard to individual factors such as the number of incumbents or organizations.
USA PATRIOT Act
Act that gives federal officials greater authority to take measures to combat terrorism.
Utilization review
Audit of health-care use and charges to identify which benefits are used and to make certain that care is necessary and costs are in line.
Validity
Ability of an instrument to measure what it is intended to measure.
Values
Describe what is important to an organization, dictate employee behavior, and create the organization’s culture.
Vesting
Process by which a retirement benefit becomes nonforfeitable.
Veto
Action of canceling or postponing a decision or bill.
Vicarious liability
Legal doctrine under which a party can be held liable for the wrongful actions of another party.
Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
Act that prohibits discrimination against certain veterans.
Vision statement
Vivid, guiding image of an organization’s desired future.
Visual learners
People who learn best by relying on their sense of sight.
Voluntary deductions
Payroll deductions selected by the employee such as charitable contributions.
Vulnerabilities
Security risk factors.
Wagner Act
Act that protects the rights of employees to organize unhampered by management; also known as National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Walsh-Healey Act
Act that extended concept of prevailing wage to employers who manufacture or supply goods under government contracts and required time and a half.
Washington v. Davis
Court ruling that dealt with job testing and discrimination.
Weighted average
Average of data that takes other factors such as the number of incumbents into account.
Weingarten rights
Union employees’ right to have a union representative or coworker present during an investigatory interview.
Wellness programs
Preventive health programs offered by employers designed to improve the health and physical well-being of employees both on and off the job.
Wildcat strikes
Work stoppages involving the primary employer-employee relationship that are neither sanctioned nor stimulated by the union and that violate a no-strike clause in the contract.
Willful violation
Violation of an OSHA standard that is considered intentional.
Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)
Tax credit to encourage employers to hire people from targeted groups.
Work rule
Reflects management decisions regarding specific actions to be taken or avoided in a given situation.
Work team
Group of employees responsible for a given end product.
Work-related disability
Physical condition (accident or illness) that is caused, aggravated, precipitated, or accelerated by work activity or the work environment.
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act
Act that requires some employers to give a minimum of 60 days’ notice if a plant is to close or if mass layoffs will occur.
Workers’ compensation
State insurance program designed to protect workers in cases of work-related injuries or diseases.
Workforce analysis
List of job titles ranked from lowest- to highest-paid within an organizational unit.
Workforce planning
Process an organization uses to analyze its workforce and determine steps it must take to prepare for future needs; strategically aligns an organization’s human capital with its business direction.
Workweek
Any fixed, recurring period of 168 consecutive hours (7 days times 24 hours = 168 hours).
Yellow-dog contracts
Contracts that force employees to agree not to join a union or participate in any union activity as a condition of employment.
Yield ratios
Ratios that can help quantify recruitment efforts.
Zero-based budgeting
Form of budgeting that requires that expenditures be justified for each new period.
Zipper clause
Contract stipulation in which both parties waive the right to demand bargaining on any matter not dealt with in the contract, whether or not it was contemplated when the contract was negotiated or signed.
