PHR Practice Questions with Answers 2024., Exams of Sociology

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PHR Practice Questions with Answers

80/20 rule ✔ 80 percent of problems are caused by 20 percent causes. Pareto chart. LMRDA (Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act) ✔ Taft Hartley act, one regulation is prohibition of closed shops and the allowances of union shops with the consent of the majority of employees. Zipper clause ✔ an employment agreement in which both parties waive the right to demand bargaining on any matter not dealt with in the contract, regardless of whether that matter was contemplated when the contract was negotiated or signed. Strategic Management ✔ Ongoing process of innovation, advantage, value creation, and reassessment used to forecast the next organizational challenge. These functions are planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. Stages of stress ✔ arousal stage, resistance stage, exhaustion stage. Identified by dr. Hans selye. arousal stage ✔ Teeth grinding, insomnia, irritability, anxiety, forgetfulness, and inability to concentrate. resistance stage ✔ Fatigue without cause, mood swings, social withdraws, resentment, indifference, defiance, procrastination, and indecision. exhaustion stage ✔ Headaches, chronic fatigue, indigestion, intestinal problems, chronic depression, hostility, isolation, disorganization, poor judgement, and disillusionment The Clayton act ✔ Passed in 1914 to limit the use of injunctions to break strikes and exempted unions from the Sherman antitrust act. Sherman Antitrust Act ✔ an 1890 law that banned the formation of trusts and monopolies in the United States. HR audit

✔ is a comprehensive method (or means) to review current human resources policies, procedures, documentation and systems to identify needs for improvement and enhancement of the HR function as well as to assess compliance with ever-changing rules and regulations. What is the most important consideration in workforce planning and employment? ✔ The legal and regulatory environment Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended three times to clarify and expand its coverage. ✔ Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The process of attempting to retain the knowledge of workers is known as what? ✔ Knowledge management ADDIE model ✔ Analysis Design Development Implementation Evaluation Which of the following is the correct sequence of instructional design? ✔ (ADDIE) Analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation. The ADDIE model is used to describe the process of instructional design. It focuses on first identifying the gap between desired and actual behavior, designing and developing programs to bridge that gap, implementing the training program, and then evaluating the effectiveness of the training. pay equity ✔ defined by what the employee brings to the job (inputs) and what they receive as rewards (outcomes). Degree of secrecy, how wages are set, and the process for determining value are all elements of organizational justice. yellow dog contract ✔ an agreement some companies forced workers to take that forbade them from joining a union. This was a method used to limit the power of unions, thus hampering their development. Outlawed in 1932 by the Norris-LaGuardia Act. Petermann v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters ✔ Workers' compensation, unemployment, and medical benefits are all calculated using which of the following modifiers?

✔ The loss experience, or experience modifier is used to modify or recalculate the rate of insurance an employer must pay. An employer's insurance premium is based on the amount of use, similar to car insurance. The more claims an employer has, the more expensive it is to purchase the insurance. Older Worker Benefits Protection Act (OWBPA) ✔ amended the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Which of the following acts was an amendment to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)? ✔ There have been a number of amendments to ERISA, typically expanding the protection for health benefit plan participants and beneficiaries. These amendments include the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA). learning organization ✔ Peter Senge pioneered the concept. It incorporates the concept of lifelong learning using five disciplines: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building a shared vision, and team learning. Cliff Vesting ✔ Requires participants to complete a specific number of years of service with an employer before they get any vested benefits, after which they are 100% vested. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) ✔ The resolution of disputes in ways other than those involved in the traditional judicial process. Negotiation, mediation, and arbitration are forms of ADR. Without litigation. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (1977) ✔ a law that makes it a crime for U.S. corporations to bribe an official of a foreign government or political party to obtain or retain business Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth ✔ Employers are liable if supervisors create a hostile work environment for employees. Vicarious Liability ✔ Legal doctrine under which a party can be held liable for the wrongful actions of another party. Respondeat Superior ✔ "Let the master answer" an employer is vicariously liable for the behavior of an employee working within his or her scope of employment Welfare and Pension Disclosure Act (WPDA)

✔ 1958, Congress first attempt to control private pension plans, requiring administrators to file a description of the plan with the DOL. summative evaluation ✔ Reaction, learning, behavior and results. Lockouts ✔ a company tactic to fight unions by not allowing employees on the property to work corporate responsibility ✔ Business behavior that is focused on building external strategic relationships. Identifying CR goals and resulting behaviors used for future decision making is an element of the strategic planning process. entitlement philosophy ✔ Traditional compensation philosophy that gives automatic salary increases based on seniority. Instructional Design Process ✔ ADDIE, analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation scalon plan ✔ a gainsharing program in which employees receive a bonus if the ratio of labor costs to the sales value of production is below a set standard. Intent to increase production and decrease costs through employee involvement. Weeks v. Southern Bell (1969) ✔ Strategic benefits of 5 forces ✔ Political/Legal: Global positive brand recognition Economic: The ability to define the skill sets of future labor to create or sustain a qualified workforce Social: Increased efficiencies, risk management, cultural perception of the brand Technology: Risk management, consumer and employee confidence Competition: Profit, market share, customer loyalty, trust Political and Legal Forces of strategic benefits ✔ Global positive brand recognition Economic Forces of strategic benefits ✔ The ability to define the skill sets of future labor to create or sustain a qualified workforce Social forces of strategic benefits ✔ Increased efficiencies, risk management, cultural perception of the brand

technology forces of strategic benefits ✔ Risk management, consumer and employee confidence competition forces of strategic benefits ✔ Profit, market share, customer loyalty, trust Weeks v. Southern Bell (1969) ✔ After being told her employment application for a switchman position was denied due to a decision not to allow women in the position, Loretta Weeks filed a complaint with the EEOC claiming sex discrimination. When Weeks later filed suit against the company, Southern Bell Telephone, they admitted prima facie violation of Title VII but claimed that sex was a BFOQ for the position, since a Georgia labor rule prohibited women and minors from lifting over 30 pounds. Weeks argued that the limit was unreasonably low, that it was arbitrary, and that it both violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and was contrary to Title VII. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Weeks, finding that Bell had not proven that sex was a BFOQ for this position. Programmed instruction ✔ is the forerunner to computer-based training. In this method, the learner progresses from lesson to lesson in a pre-designed course of instruction as mastery of the objectives is attained. crisis management method of risk management ✔ method of risk management is also sometimes referred to as the "fire drill" method. This method chooses to manage risk reactively, on an ad hoc basis. Under this method risks often go unrecognized or ignored and result in lowered productivity and a stressful work environment. BFOQ (Bona Fide Occupational Qualification) ✔ an exception in employment law that permits sex, age, religion, national origin and the like to be used when making employment decisions, but only if they are "reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business." Parallel Budget ✔ the combination approach and includes elements from both top-down and bottom- up. The senior management provides broad guidelines for operating managers to follow in creating budgets for individual departments. monetary compensation ✔ includes direct payments, such as salary, wages, and bonuses, and indirect payments, such as payments to cover benefits and services. agency shop clause

✔ Clause in a labor contract specifying that all employees must either join the union or pay union dues if they choose not to join the union. union shop clause ✔ Agreement that requires all employees to join the union within a grace period specified by the contract but no fewer than 30 days or, in the construction industry, 7 days. closed shop clause ✔ In a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that requires all new hires to be members of the union before they are hired. It is illegal except in the construction industry. Maintenance of Membership clause ✔ Allows employees to choose if they want to join the union, but does not allow them to drop out of the union once they join. Steps in the mediation process ✔ Structure, Introductions, Fact-finding, Options, Negotiating, Writing the agreement Four factors that contribute to an engaged workforce ✔ Identify the best fit for employees. Concentrate on individual employee strengths. Clearly establish desired results. Look for talent as well as knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) when selecting employees. Executive Order 11478 ✔ This order, written in 1969, again expanded the scope of EO 11246 by adding handicapped individuals and persons 40 years of age or older to the list of protected classes Executive Order 13087 ✔ This EO from 1998 expanded coverage to include sexual orientation. Executive Order 13152 ✔ This EO added "status as a parent" to the list of protected classes first identified in EO 11246. High-Involvement Organizations (HIOs) ✔ are characterized by broadly defined jobs in flat hierarchies in which continuous feedback is provided and information flows between and among self-directed work teams. Edward E. Lawler III identified four elements needed to create a High Involvement Organization (HIO): Power, Information, Knowledge, and Rewards. Techno-Structural Interventions

✔ Analyze how work is conducted in the organization and how employees are involved in the work process. exception reporting ✔ The method in which changes to the regular schedule are recorded. Examples of these changes include the use of vacation, sick, or personal time. This method is most appropriately used with exempt employees, since their pay is not based on hours worked. positive time reporting ✔ Method used to record time worked in which employees record actual hours they work and any time they were off from work, paid or unpaid. Behavioral Evaluation Method ✔ Meaures job performance between 6 weeks to 6 months after the training to determine whether the new skills were successfully transferred to the job human capitol management plan (HCMP) ✔ is created as result of the strategic planning process developing tactical goals and action plans to meet the needs of the organization. It answers the same four questions addressed during the strategic planning process previously described: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How will we get there? How will we know when we arrive? To be effective and credible, the HCMP must align with the corporate strategy and goals and help achieve the desired business results. Five Basic Organizational Structures ✔ functional, product-based, geographical, divisional, and matrix ERISA minimum standards ✔ When 1 year of service has been completed or the employee has reached the age of 21, whichever is later, unless the plan provides for 100 percent vesting after 2 years of service. In that case, the requirement changes to completion of 2 years of service or reaching age 21, whichever is later. Employees may not be excluded from the plan on the basis of age; that is, they may not be excluded because they have reached a specified age. When employees have met the minimum service and age requirements, they must become participants no later than the first day of the plan year after they meet the requirement, or 6 months after the requirements are met, whichever is earlier. Section 125 benefit plans ✔ Written benefit plans maintained by the employer that allow employees to use pretax dollars to pay for certain qualified benefits. Example, FSA. Theory X managers ✔ management assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can. Need for close supervision of employees; who will only work harder for selfish reasons

business process outsource (BPO) ✔ Practice of engaging a third-party provider to assume operational control of and responsibility for a particular business function. This solution can be beneficial by allowing the organization to focus on its basic business operations and potentially reduce costs. experiential training methods ✔ Training methods that use real-time situations such as demonstrations, one-on-one training, or performance-based training to provide learners with experience. job enlargement ✔ the opportunity which involves additional tasks being added to a job without the level of responsibility of skill being increased. Job enlargement job enrichment ✔ increasing the number of tasks in a particular job and giving workers the authority and control to make meaningful decisions about their work predictive validity ✔ A type of criterion measure which compares the test scores of a test given at the beginning of a job before new employees have experience to the same criterion collected at some future time. Dominate or assist labor organization ✔ is defined as being situations in which employers are precluded from forming company unions that are controlled by management and, therefore, don't allow employees an independent representative. behavioral method (BARS) ✔ uses a behaviorally anchored rating scale. This method uses the job description to create dimensions that represent the most important requirements of the job. For each dimension, anchor statements are created to represent varying levels of performance behaviors that describe rating numbers on a scale. community of practice ✔ is an informal means of learning what works well in environments characterized by open communication and trust. They consist of people with common work interests or needs who are willing to share experiences and expertise with co-workers. defined benefit plan ✔ is a traditional pension plan in which the employer provides a specific benefit upon retirement. The funds in these plans aren't accounted for individually. defined-contribution plan

✔ is an individual plan in which the amount of funds contributed is known, but the amount of the benefit that is eventually paid out isn't known because it depends on the investment returns that are earned. The funds are accounted for in individual accounts for each participant. non-qualified retirement plan ✔ is one in which the benefits exceed the limitations of qualified plans or don't meet other IRS requirements for favorable tax treatment. These plans aren't required to include all employees, so they may provide additional benefits to officers, shareholders, executives, supervisors, or other highly compensated employees. Duty of Diligence ✔ Common-law doctrine requiring an employee to act "with reasonable care and skill" in the course of performing work for the employer. Duty of Obedience ✔ Best described as the requirement that employees are to act in accordance with their employer's practical and legal policies, procedures, and rules. Duty of Loyalty ✔ Best described as the requirement that employees act in the best interests of their employer and not achieve personal gain by soliciting work away from the employer. blocking bar ✔ If an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge is pending and is holding up certification, another election will not be allowed by the NLRB. procedural justice ✔ is how fair the internal processes and procedures in determining pay scales are perceived to be. Distributive Justice ✔ relates to how closely pay reflects actual performance. pay openness ✔ Degree of secrecy that exists in an organization around pay issues such as base pay, increases, and pay for performance. Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act ✔ Requires government contractors with contracts exceeding $10,000 (for other than construction work) to pay their employees the prevailing wage for their local area as established by the Secretary of Labor. Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 ✔ This law requires the payment of "prevailing wages" to employees of contractors and subcontractors working on government construction projects.

McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965 ✔ expands on the Davis-Bacon Act and requires any federal service contractor with a contract exceeding $2,500 to pay its employees the prevailing wage and fringe benefits for the geographic area in which it operates, provide safe and sanitary working conditions, and notify employees of the minimum allowable wage for each job classification, as well as the equivalent federal employee classification and wage rate for similar jobs. Glass Ceiling Barriers ✔ Identified three barriers that prevented women and minorities from advancing to senior levels: societal barriers, internal structural barriers, and governmental barriers What percentage of substance abusers are currently employed? ✔ 70% Corporate Responsibility Considerations for each of the five forces ✔ Political/Legal: American Labor Laws Economic: Skill set of the labor force population Social: Often driven by trends such as sustainability, disaster response, corporate governance Technology: Worker privacy, data protection, security of confidential information Competition: The global market, quality versus production costs, the values of suppliers Washington v. Davis ✔ A prominent Title VII case that carries the significance of ruling that tests that have an adverse impact on a protected class are lawful if they're valid predictors of success on the job. The suit was filed by two applicants for the police department who claimed that the written test administered to them had an adverse impact on black applicants. The Supreme Court upheld the district court's finding that the test was a valid predictor of successful performance in the police-training program. Mass Layoff defined by WARN Act ✔ Occurs when either 500 employees or 33% of the workforce and at least 50 employees are laid off. If 50 or more full-time employees lose their jobs because a single facility shuts down, it is considered a plant closing. Merit Matrix ✔ is commonly developed by HR as a tool for managers to use in planning increases for their work units. Combines a performance rating with the employee's position in the salary range to recommend the amount of increase. Three types of Administrative Law ✔ (1) agency rules and regulations, (2) agency orders, and (3) executive orders