Workplace Flashcards
Conflict of interest
Situation in which a person or organization may benefit from undue influence due to involvement in outside activities, relationships, or investments that conflict with or have an impact on the employment relationship or its outcomes.
Essential Functions
Primary job duties that a qualified individual must be
able to perform, either with or without accommodation.
Reasonable accommodations
Modifying a job application process, a work
environment, or the circumstances under which a job
is performed to enable a qualified individual with a
disability to be considered for the job and perform its
essential functions.
Outsourcing
Process by which an organization contracts with thirdparty vendors to provide selected services/activities
instead of hiring new employees.
Independent contractors
Self-employed individuals hired on a contract basis for
specialized services.
Whistleblowing
Reporting of an organization’s violations of policies and
processes by employees.
Globalization
Status of growing interconnectedness and
interdependency among countries, people, markets,
and organizations worldwide.
Global Integration (GI)
Globalization strategy that emphasizes consistency of
approach, standardization of processes, and a
common corporate culture across global operations
Assignees
Employees who work outside their home countries.
Local Responsiveness (LR)
Globalization strategy that emphasizes adapting to the
needs of local markets and allows subsidiaries to
develop unique products, structures, and systems.
Multinationals Enterprises (MNEs)
Organizations that own or control production or service
facilities in one or more countries other than the home
country
Identity alignment
Extent to which diversity is embraced in management
of people, products/services, and branding.
Process alignment
Extent to which underlying operations such as IT,
finance, or HR integrate across locations.
Offshoring
Method by which an organization relocates its
processes or production to an international location
through subsidiaries or third-party affiliates.
Onshoring
Relocation of business processes or production to a
lower-cost location inside the same country as the
business.
Near-shoring
Practice of contracting a part of business processes or
production to an external company in a country that is
relatively close (for example, within the same own
region).
Repatriation
Process by which employees returning from
international assignments reintegrate into their home
country’s culture, conditions, and employment.
Redeployment
Process by which an organization moves an employee
out of an international assignment; can involve moving
back to the home country, moving to a different global
location, or moving to a new location or position in the
current host country.
Risk
Uncertainty that has an effect on an objective, where
outcomes may include opportunities, losses, and
threats.
Risk management
System for identifying, evaluating, and controlling
actual and potential risks to an organization.
Risk position
Organization’s desired gain or acceptable loss in value.
Risk appetite
A high-level characterization of the amount of
uncertainty (acceptable risk) an organization is willing
to pursue or to accept to attain its risk management
goals.
Risk tolerance
A characterization of the amount of uncertainty
(acceptable risk) an organization is willing to pursue or
to accept to attain its risk management goals, defined
in a range above and below a target.
Single loss expectancy (SLE)
Expected monetary loss every time a risk occurs;
calculated by multiplying asset value by exposure
factor.
Annualized loss expectancy (ALE)
Expected monetary loss for an asset due to a risk over
a one-year period; calculated by multiplying single loss
expectancy by annualized rate of occurrence.
Moral hazard
Situation in which one party engages in risky behavior
knowing that it is protected against the risk because
another party will incur any resulting loss.
Principal-agent problem
Situation in which an agent (for example, an employee)
makes decisions for a principal (for example, an
employer) potentially on the basis of personal
incentives that may not be aligned with the principal’s
incentives.
Risk control
Action taken to manage a risk.
Duty of care
Principle that organizations should take all steps that
are reasonably possible to ensure the health, safety,
and well-being of employees and protect them from
foreseeable injury.
Hazard
Potential for harm, often associated with a condition or
activity that, if left uncontrolled, can result in injury or
illness.
Risk scorecard
Tool used to gather individual assessments of various
characteristics of risk (for example, frequency of
occurrence; degree of impact, loss, or gain for the
organization; degree of efficacy of current controls).
Key risk indicators (KRIs)
Metrics that provide an early signal of increasing risk
exposures for an enterprise.
Residual risk
Amount of uncertainty that remains after all risk
management efforts have been exhausted.
Contingency plan
Protocol that an organization implements when an
identified risk event occurs.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Varying ways an organization can create value, looking
beyond traditional profit measures of revenue and
expenses; includes such areas as philanthropy,
volunteerism, corporate-sponsored community
programs, social change, sustainability, corporate
governance, employee rights, and workplace safety.
Compliance
State of being in accordance with all national, federal,
regional, and/or local laws, regulations, and/or other
government authority requirements applicable to the
places in which an organization operates.
Ethics
Set of behavioral guidelines that an organization
expects all of its directors, managers, and employees
to follow to ensure appropriate moral and ethical
business standards.
Governance
System of rules and processes set up by an
organization to ensure its compliance with local and
international laws, accounting rules, ethical norms,
internal codes of conduct, and other standards.
Sustainability
Practice of purchasing and using resources wisely by
balancing economic, social, and environmental
concerns, with the goal of securing the interests of
present and future generations.
Triple bottom line
Economic, social, and environmental impact metrics
used to determine an organization’s success.
Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI)
Type of liability insurance covering an organization
against claims by employees, former employees, and
employment candidates alleging that their legal rights
in the employment relationship have been violated.
Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)
U.S. act that prohibits discrimination against job
applicants on the basis of national origin or citizenship
and establishes penalties for hiring undocumented
workers.
Employment at-will
Principle of employment in the U.S. that employers
have the right to hire, fire, demote, and promote
whomever they choose for any reason unless there is a
law or contract to the contrary and that employees
have the right to quit a job at any time.
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
U.S act that protects privacy of background information
and ensures that information supplied is accurate.
Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act
(FACT Act)
U.S act that frees employers who use third parties to
conduct workplace investigations from the consent and
disclosure requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting
Act in certain cases.
Protected class
People who are covered under a particular federal or
state antidiscrimination law.
Disparate treatment
Type of discrimination that occurs when an applicant or
employee is treated differently because of his or her
membership in a protected class.
Disparate impact
Type of discrimination that results when a policy that
appears to be neutral has a discriminatory effect; also
known as adverse impact.
Adverse impact
Type of discrimination that results when a policy that
appears to be neutral has a discriminatory effect; also
known as disparate impact.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
First comprehensive U.S. law making it unlawful to
discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin.
National origin
Refers to the country (including those that no longer
exist) of one’s birth or of one’s ancestors’ birth.
Gender identity
Refers to one’s internal, personal sense of being a
man or a woman (or boy or girl), which may or may not
be the same as one’s sexual assignment at birth.
Sexual orientation
Sexual, romantic, or emotional/spiritual attraction that
one feels for persons of the opposite sex or gender, the
same sex or gender, or both sexes and more than one
gender.
Bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)
Factor (such as religion, gender, national origin, etc.)
that is reasonably necessary, in the normal operations
of an organization, to carry out a particular job function.
Equal Employment Opportunity Act
U.S act that amended Title VII and gave the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission authority to
“back up” its administrative findings and conduct its
own enforcement litigation.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
U.S. act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of
pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection
Procedures
Procedural document designed to assist employers in
complying with federal regulations prohibiting
discrimination.
Executive Order 13672
Amends Executive Orders 11478 and 11246 to
include gender identity and sexual orientation.
Griggs v. Duke Power
U.S. case that set the standard for determining
whether discrimination based on disparate impact
exists.
Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corporation
1971 U.S. case that stated that an employer may not,
in the absence of business necessity, refuse to hire
women with preschool-aged children while hiring men
with such children.
McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
Case that established criteria for disparate treatment.
Civil Rights Act of 1991
U.S. act that expands the possible damage awards
available to victims of intentional discrimination to
include compensatory and punitive damages; gives
plaintiffs in cases of alleged discrimination the right to
a jury trial.
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance
Act (VEVRAA)
U.S. act that prohibits discrimination against specified
categories of veterans; applies to federal government
contractors and subcontractors.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
U.S. act that prohibits discrimination in the workplace
on the basis of age.
Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA)
U.S. act that amended the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act to include all employee benefits; also
provided standards that an employee’s waiver of the
right to sue for age discrimination must meet in order
to be upheld by a court.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
U.S. act that prohibits discrimination against a qualified
individual with a disability because of his/her disability.
Disability
Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits
one’s major life activities.
ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA)
Amendments to U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act
covering the definition of individuals regarded as
having a disability, mitigating measures, and other
rules to guide the analysis of what constitutes a
disability.
Quid pro quo harassment
Type of sexual harassment that occurs when an
employee is forced to choose between giving in to a
superior’s sexual demands and forfeiting an economic
benefit such as a pay increase, a promotion, or
continued employment.
Hostile environment harassment
Occurs when sexual or other discriminatory conduct is
so severe and pervasive that it interferes with an
individual’s performance; creates an intimidating,
threatening, or humiliating work environment; or
perpetuates a situation that affects the employee’s
psychological well-being.
Faragher v. City of Boca Raton
U.S. court ruling that distinguished between supervisor
harassment that results in tangible employment action
and supervisor harassment that does not.
Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth
U.S. court ruling that distinguished between supervisor
harassment that results in tangible employment action
and supervisor harassment that does not.
Vicarious liability
Legal doctrine under which a party can be held liable
for the wrongful actions of another party.
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
(GINA)
U.S act that prohibits discrimination against individuals
on the basis of their genetic information in both
employment and health insurance.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
U.S act that establishes minimum wage, overtime pay,
youth employment, and record-keeping standards
affecting full- and part-time workers in the private
sector and in federal, state, and local governments.
Employees
Individuals who exchange work for wages or salary; in
the U.S., workers who are covered by Fair Labor
Standards Act regulations as determined by the IRS.
Exempt employees
Employees who are excluded from U.S. Fair Labor
Standards Act minimum wage and overtime pay
requirements.
Nonexempt employees
Employees covered under U.S. Fair Labor Standards
Act regulations, including minimum wage and overtime
pay requirements.
Overtime pay
Required for nonexempt workers under U.S. Fair Labor
Standards Act at 1.5 times the regular rate of pay for
hours over 40 in a workweek.
Workweek
Any fixed, recurring period of 168 consecutive hours (7
days times 24 hours = 168 hours).
Portal-to-Portal Act
U.S. act that defines what is included as hours worked and is therefore compensable and a factor in calculating overtime.
Equal Pay Act (EPA)
U.S. act that prohibits wage discrimination by requiring
equal pay for equal or “substantially equal” work
performed by men and women.
Comparable worth
Concept that jobs filled primarily by women that require
skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions
comparable to similar jobs filled primarily by men
should have the same classifications and salaries.
Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA)
U.S. act that established uniform minimum standards
to ensure that employee benefit and pension plans are
set up and maintained in a fair and financially sound
manner.
Prudent person rule
States that a fiduciary of a plan covered by the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act has legal
and financial obligations not to take more risks when
investing employee benefit program funds than a
reasonably knowledgeable, prudent investor would
under similar circumstances.
Vesting
Process by which a retirement benefit becomes
nonforfeitable.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
U.S. act that requires that all publicly held companies
establish internal controls and procedures for financial
reporting to reduce the possibility of corporate fraud.
Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber
Company
2007 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
claims of sex discrimination in pay under Title VII were
not timely because discrimination charges were not
filed with the EEOC within the required 180-day time
frame.
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
U.S. act that creates a rolling time frame for filing wage
discrimination claims and expands plaintiff field beyond
employee who was discriminated against.
Davis-Bacon Act
U.S. act that requires certain contractors and
subcontractors to pay laborers and mechanics no less
than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits for
corresponding work on federal contracts.
Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act
U.S. act that establishes a minimum wage, maximum
hours, and health and safety standards for contracts to
manufacture or furnish materials, articles, or
equipment to the U.S. government or the District of
Columbia.
McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act
U.S. act that requires contractors and subcontractors
on certain contracts to pay service employees in
various classes no less than the wage rates and fringe
benefits found in the locality or the rates found in the
previous contractor’s collective bargaining agreement.
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act (COBRA)
U.S. act that provides individuals and dependents who
may lose health-care coverage with opportunity to pay
to continue coverage.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
U.S. act that provides employees with up to 12 weeks
of unpaid leave to care for family members or because
of a serious health condition of the employee.
National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA)
U.S. acts that expanded FMLA leave for employees
with family members who are covered members of the
military.
Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
U.S. act that protects the employment, reemployment,
and retention rights of persons who serve or have
served in the uniformed services.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(PPACA)
2010 U.S. law that requires virtually all citizens and
legal residents to have minimum health coverage and
requires employers with more than 50 full-time
employees to provide health coverage that meets
minimum benefit specifications or pay a penalty.
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act requirement that individuals
purchase health insurance was constitutional but
requirement that states expand Medicaid was not.
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
U.S. act that defined marriage as the union of one man
and one woman and permitted states to not recognize
same-sex marriages recognized by other states; ruled
unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court.
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act
U.S. act that established the first national policy for
workplace safety and health and continues to deliver
standards that employers must meet to guarantee the
health and safety of their employees
General Duty Clause
Statement in U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act
that requires employers subject to the act to provide
employees with a safe and healthy work environment.
Occupational injury
Injury that results from a work-related accident or
exposure involving a single incident in the work
environment.
Occupational illness
Medical condition or disorder, other than one resulting
from an occupational injury, caused by exposure to
environmental factors associated with employment.
Drug-Free Workplace Act
U.S. law that requires federal contractors with contracts
of $100,000 or more as well as recipients of grants
from federal government to certify that they are
maintaining a drug-free workplace.
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
U.S. act that protected and encouraged the growth of
the union movement; established workers’ rights to
organize and bargain collectively with employers.
Labor-Management Relations Act (LMRA)
U.S. act that imposed several restrictions and
requirements on unions.
Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure
Act (LMRDA)
U.S. act that imposed regulations on internal union
affairs and the relationship between union officials and
union members.
NLRB v. Weingarten
Landmark 1975 U.S. labor relations case that dealt
with the right of a unionized employee to have another
person present during certain investigatory interviews
Weingarten rights
Union employees’ right in U.S. to have a union
representative or coworker present during an
investigatory interview.
Lechmere, Inc. v. NLRB
1992 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
an employer cannot be compelled to allow
nonemployee organizers onto the business property.
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
U.S. act that prevents private employers from requiring
applicants or employees to take a polygraph test for
preemployment screening or during the course of
employment, with certain exceptions.
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification
(WARN) Act
U.S. 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.
Electronic Communications Privacy Act
U.S. act that made it unlawful to intercept messages in
transmission, access stored information on electronic
communication services, or disclose any of this
information.
