HR: Chapter 11, SHRM Chapter 12, HR chapter 13

Name the three Organization-Wide incentive plans

1. Profit-Sharing Plans 2. Employee Share Purchase/Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) 3. Gainsharing Plans

Which of the following is typically used to measure pay equity? A. Job evaluation B. Job analysis C. Job description D. Job design E. Job enlargement

a

The _____ is an index of the correspondence between actual and intended pay. A. pay grade B. pay midpoint C. compa-ratio D. range spread E. pay range

c

The average compensation--including wages, salaries and bonuses--- of jobs in an organization is called the ___ a. range spread b. compa--ratio c. pay level d. job structure e. pay grade

c

The two-tier wage plan supports the _____ through its focus on the way employees compare their pay with other jobs and the need for managers to take this into consideration. A. reinforcement theory B. social exchange theory C. equity theory D. expectancy theory E. efficiency wage theory

c

Which of the following is based on individual characteristics such as skill or knowledge and covers exempt employees? A. Internal equity pay B. Market survey pay C. Competency-based pay D. Job-based pay E. External equity pay

c

Which of the following theories states that pay influences worker productivity? A. Structuration theory B. Social exchange theory C. Efficiency wage theory D. Perceptual-motor theory E. Expectancy theory

c

_____ allows women and minorities to come within sight of the top echelons of management, but not advance to them. A. Departmentalization B. Decentralization C. Glass ceiling D. Benchmarking E. Centralization

c

Which of the following is true of non key jobs? A. They have stable content. B. They can be used in pay surveys. C. They can be valued directly. D. They can be compared through market survey. E. They are unique to organizations.

e

A plan whereby a trust is established to hold shares of company stock purchased for or issued to employees. The trust distributes the stock to employees on retirement, separation from service, or as otherwise prescribed by the plan

Employee Share Purchase/Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

Any salary increase awarded to an employee based on his or her individual performance

Merit Pay (Merit Raise)

A plan whereby most or all employees share in the company's profits

Profit-Sharing Plans

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, A. employees should be paid at the rate of one and a half times their hourly rate for overtime worked beyond 40 hours in a week. B. federal contractors should pay employees no less than the prevailing wages in the area. C. outside sales employees are included in the coverage. D. employers who are not aware of the overtime work done by the employees are violating the law. E. occupations that have hourly wages are exempt from the law.

a

Organizations use benchmarking primarily to compete: A. for talent. B. for market share. C. on costs. D. on product differentiation. E. for consumer loyalty.

a

Which of the following is a criticism of traditional merit pay programs? a employees are encouraged to focus on personal gains rather than what is good for the organization. b that pay is not important and supervisors prefer that c that supervisors target employees d that employees are discouraged to focus on personal gain

a

procedure by which an organization compares its own practices to that of others

benchmarking

wages influence worker productivity

efficiency wage theory

relative rates of pay for jobs in an org

job structure

trying to cut costs to stay competitive with other firms

product market competition

family-friendly benefits

-family leave -child care -college savings -elder care

four conditions that workers must meet to receive unemployment benefits

1. demonstrate they had been employed 2. they are available for work 3. they are actively seeking work 4. weren't discharged for cause, quit, or because of a labor dispute

Which of the following is true of the pay grade approach to developing a pay structure? A. It permits greater flexibility in moving employees from job to job. B. It increases the administrative burden of setting up rates of pay. C. It has a range spread that is smaller at higher levels. D. It ensures that all of the jobs have fair rates of pay. E. It tends to contribute to reduced labor costs.

a

programs that assume that behavior change requires support and reinforcement along with awareness and opportunity

active employee wellness programs

A firm that has a manufacturing unit in China considers shifting production to Cambodia. Which of the following would be a possible reason for it to not shift the production base? A. Lower wages for labor in Cambodia B. Lesser skilled labor in Cambodia C. Higher productivity in Cambodia D. Rising labor costs in China E. Higher transportation cost in China

b

In incentive pay, performance measures are primarily based on _____. a. subjective ratings and profits based on stock prices b. physical output and not subjective ratings c. production costs of the department and subjective individual ratings d. a supervisors appraisal in a team

b

Which of the following administrative tools is used by organizations to design job structures? A. Job rotation B. Job evaluation C. Market pay survey D. Job description E. Job specification

b

Which of the following concepts addresses the fact that different employees in the same job may have different pay rates? A. Range spread B. Rate ranges C. Key jobs D. Compensable factors E. Pay grades

b

Which of the following is an example of an equal employment opportunity regulation that prohibits sex- and race-based differences in employment outcomes such as pay, unless justified by business necessity? A. 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act B. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act C. Equal Pay Act of 1963 D. Taft-Hartley Act E. Mann Act

b

Which of the following is part of benefits offered to employees? a. stock options b. unemployment compensation c. salary d. merit increase e. Bonuses

b

Which of the following is the definition of compensable factors? A. They are jobs that are unique to organizations and that cannot be directly valued or compared through the use of market surveys. B. They are the characteristics of jobs that an organization values and chooses to pay for. C. They are the jobs that have relatively stable content and are common to many organizations. D. They are the factors that describes the relationship between a job's pay and its job evaluation points. E. They are the jobs that are of similar worth or content grouped together for pay administration purposes.

b

Which of the following is the most widely used method in job evaluation that yields scores for each compensable factor? A. Range spread approach B. Point-factor system C. Market survey system D. Pay policy line E. Pay grade approach

b

Which of the following is true of key jobs? A. They are unique to organizations. B. They can be used in pay surveys. C. They have unstable content. D. They cannot be compared through market survey. E. They are not benchmark jobs.

b

Which of the following is true of skill-based pay? A. It rarely provides the opportunity for leaner staffing levels. B. It helps in making alternative arrangements for employee turnover. C. It reduces worker flexibility. D. It leads to a shortage of multi-skilled employees. E. It gives rise to centralization of decision making.

b

Which of the following occupations is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)? A. First responders B. Executives C. Firefighters D. Paramedics E. Police

b

Which of the following pay structures would a company adopt, if it wants to adopt a pay structure that rewards employees based on their knowledge and competency? A. Delayering approach B. Skill-based pay approach C. Pay grade approach D. Market survey data approach E. Pay policy line approach

b

______ refers to the relative pay of different jobs and how much they are paid. a. pay grade b. pay structure c. efficiency wage d. benchmark e. job evaluation

b

-social security -unemployment insurance -workers' compensation insurance -family and medical leave -health care

benefits required by law

As per the Fair Labor Standards Act, the current minimum wage stands at _____. A. $8.85 per hour B. $9.40 per hour C. $7.25 per hour D. $10.50 per hour E. $8.30 per hour

c

External equity pay comparisons focus on what: A. other employees within the same organization in the same job are paid. B. other employees within the same organization but in a different job are paid. C. employees in other organizations are paid for doing the same general job. D. employees in other organizations are paid for doing other jobs with higher responsibility. E. employees in other organizations are paid for doing other jobs with lower responsibility.

c

Internal equity pay comparison is: A. influenced primarily by an organization's choice of pay level. B. the primary administrative tool organizations use in choosing a pay level. C. focused on what employees within the same organization but in different jobs are paid. D. determined using market pay surveys. E. more likely to influence the decisions of applicants to accept job offers than external equity pay comparison.

c

Labor market comparisons are more important than product market comparisons when: A. product demand is elastic. B. the costs of recruiting replacements are low. C. attracting and retaining qualified employees is difficult. D. the supply of labor is inelastic. E. employee skills are specific to the product market.

c

Which of the following hypotheses argues that women were historically restricted to entering a small number of occupations, and as a result, the supply of workers far exceeded demand, resulting in lower pay for such occupations? A. Macho hypothesis B. Strain hypothesis C. Crowding hypothesis D. Contact hypothesis E. Calibration hypothesis

c

Which of the following is a likely consequence of external equity perception? A. Job rotation B. Transfer C. Retention D. Promotion E. Cooperation among employees

c

retirement plan in which the employer sets up an individual account for each employee and contributes a percentage of the employee's salary; the account earns interest at a predetermined rate

cash balance plan

ratio that examines the difference between policy and practice, it measures the performance of pay policy. (correspondence between actual and intended pay for a pay grade) What is the formula?

compa-ratio (average pay grade/midpoint for pay grade)

federal law that requires employers to permit employees or their dependents to extend their health insurance coverage at group rates for up to 36 months following a qualifying event, such as a layoff, reduction in hours, or the employee's death

consolidated omnibus budget reconciliation act (COBRA)

According to the _____, a person compares her own ratio of perceived outcomes to perceived inputs to the ratio of a comparison other. A. reinforcement theory B. predicted outcome value theory C. social exchange theory D. equity theory E. expectancy theory

d

Athen Tech., a software company, changed its pay structure from 3,000 job titles and 12 pay grades to a simpler structure with 1,000 jobs and 5 pay grades. The managers were then asked to choose pay levels that were based on the market. This is an example of _____. A. decentralizing B. departmentalizing C. forecasting D. delayering E. benchmarking

d

Job-based pay structure: A. discourages top-down decision making. B. encourages lateral employee movement. C. discourages promotion-seeking behavior. D. encourages a lack of initiative on the part of employees. E. discourages performance evaluation by the manager.

d

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): A. established an eight-hour workday. B. established the requirement for paying prevailing wages on public works projects. C. laid the responsibility of economic stability onto the federal government. D. established a minimum wage for jobs. E. failed to set pay regulations for overtime work.

d

Which of the following is a disadvantage of the pay grade approach? A. The administrative burden of setting separate rates of pay for numerous employees is increased. B. It is inflexible when it comes to moving employees from job to job. C. Demotions are not well received in a pay-grade system when compared to a job-based system. D. It might give rise to some jobs being underpaid and some being overpaid. E. It does not recognize that performance difference in the higher levels has much impact on the organization.

d

Which of the following is a likely consequence of an internal equity perception? A. Attraction of efficient employees B. Retention of quality employees C. Labor costs D. Job rotation E. Pay scales of competitors

d

Which of the following is part of cash compensations offered to employees? a. paid vacation b. unemployment compensation c. health insurance d. stock options e. retirement plans

d

Which of the following is true of a job-based pay structure? A. It encourages employee initiatives. B. It allows the organization to take advantage of the skills of those closest to production. C. It encourages lateral movement of employees. D. It reinforces a top-down decision making process. E. It discourages promotion-seeking behavior.

d

Which of the following refers to a procedure in which an organization compares its own practices against those of the competition? A. Delayering B. Forecasting C. Offshoring D. Benchmarking E. Job evaluation

d

Which of the following statements is true about the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)? A. The current minimum wage set by the FLSA is 5.25 per hour. B. It states that employees cannot be made to work overtime. C. Exempt employees are eligible for overtime pay. D. It exempts executive, professional, and administrative occupations from FLSA coverage. E. Under FLSA, exempt status is independent of job responsibilities and salary.

d

Which of the following theories describes the conditions when the benefits of higher pay outweigh higher costs? A. Equity theory B. Expectancy theory C. Reinforcement theory D. Efficiency wage theory E. Social exchange theory

d

_____ is a public policy that focuses primarily on advocating remedies for any undervaluation of women's jobs. A. Equal opportunity B. Glass ceiling C. Efficiency wage D. Comparable worth E. Minimum wage

d

_____ refers to the process of reducing the number of job levels to achieve more flexibility in job assignments and in assigning merit increases. A. Decentralizing B. Departmentalizing C. Forecasting D. Delayering E. Benchmarking

d

pension plan that guarantees a specified level of retirement income

defined-benefit plan

retirement plan in which the employer sets up an individual account for each employee and specifies the size of the investment into that account

defined-contribution plan

reducing number of job levels to provide more flexibility in job assignments

delayering

A _____ system is composed of compensable factors and a weighting scheme based on the importance of each compensable factor to the organization. A. job analysis B. job description C. job design D. job specification E. job evaluation

e

Compensable factors are employee's job characteristics that: A. are immeasurable. B. go unrecognized by the company. C. do not motivate employees to work better. D. primarily lead to intrinsic motivation. E. the company is willing to pay for.

e

Product market comparisons that focus on labor costs are likely to deserve greater weight when: A. product demand is inelastic. B. the supply of labor is elastic. C. attracting and retaining qualified employees is difficult. D. the costs of recruiting replacements are high. E. labor costs represent a large share of total costs.

e

Under the _____ approach, jobs of similar worth or content are grouped together for pay administration purposes. A. market survey data B. pay policy line C. compa-ratio D. skill-based E. pay grade

e

Which of the following is a disadvantage of skill-based pay? A. It is not suited for jobs that require skills to adapt to change in technology. B. It decreases worker flexibility. C. It does not give knowledgeable people opportunities to make decisions. D. It does not help deal with absenteeism or turnover. E. It may give rise to large new labor costs but with little payoff.

e

Which of the following is an administrative procedure used to measure internal job worth using measurable factors? A. Job enlargement B. Job description C. Job design D. Job specification E. Job evaluation

e

Which of the following is the primary focus of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act? A. It makes it mandatory for firms to give women maternity leave. B. It restricts the setting up of labor unions. C. It promotes the setting up of labor unions. D. It supports equal pay for jobs of equal content. E. It supports equal pay for jobs of equal value.

e

Which of the following is true about pay? A. Pay is not helpful when it comes to aligning employees' interests with those of the broader organization. B. Pay has a small impact on employee attitudes and behavior. C. From the employees' view, pay policies do not affect their standard of living. D. Companies often look for ways to reduce pay by jeopardizing their relationship with the workforce. E. Employees attach great importance to pay decisions when they evaluate their relationship with the organization.

e

Which of the following is true of external equity pay comparison? A. It involves comparisons with employees with lower level jobs in the organization. B. It involves comparisons with employees with higher level jobs in the organization. C. It influences whether employees accept transfers. D. It influences employees' willingness to accept promotions. E. It influences decisions of employees of whether to stay or move to another organization.

e

Which of the following is true of labor market competition? A. Labor market focuses primarily on competing through providing quality product or service at a competitive price in the market. B. Labor market places an upper bound on labor costs and compensation. C. The upper bound placed by the labor market is more constrictive when labor costs are a very small share of the total costs. D. An indirect payment such as Social Security, a major component of labor costs, is not included in calculating the average cost of an employee. E. Labor market competition places a lower bound on pay levels.

e

Which of the following observations is true about the equity theory? A. It suggests that managers compare the performance of employees with their potential to improve. B. It suggests that employees' performance should be evaluated based on their developmental needs. C. It suggests that internal equity pay comparisons focus on what employees in other organizations are paid for doing the same general job. D. It suggests that when a person's outcome-input ratio is greater than the comparison other's ratio, under reward inequity is perceived. E. It suggests that people evaluate the fairness of their situations by comparing them with those of other people.

e

_____ refers to the relative pay of jobs in an organization. a. pay level b. pay grade c. compa-ration d. range spread e. job structure

e

compensation in forms other than cash

employee benefits

federal law that increased the responsibility of pension plan trustees to protect retirees, established certain rights related to vesting and portability, and created the pension benefit guarantee corporation

employee retirement income security act (ERISA)

a set of communications, activities, and facilities designed to change health-related behaviors in ways that reduce health risks

employee wellness program (EWP)

the maximum wages above which benefits may be reduced for the worker

exempt amount

the number of employees a company has laid off in the past and the cost of providing them with unemployment benefits

experience rating

federal law requiring organizations with 50 or more employees to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave after childbirth or adoption; to care for a seriously ill family member or for an employee's own serious illness; or to take care of urgent needs that arise when a spouse, child, or parent in the National Guard or Reserve is called to active duty

family and medical leave act (FMLA)

benchmark jobs that have relatively stable content (easier to obtain market data) (ex: administrative assistant, accountant)

key jobs

trying to give the best wages to stay competitive with other firms

labor market competition

insurance that pays a percentage of a disabled employee's salary after an initial period and potentially for the rest of the employee's life

long-term disability insurance

a defined-contribution plan in which employer specifies a level of annual contributions

money purchase plan

benchmark jobs that are unique to organizations

nonkey jobs

programs that provide info and services, but no formal support or motivation to use the program

passive employee wellness programs

health care reform law passed in 2010 that includes incentives and penalties for employer providing health insurance as a benefit

patient protection and affordable care act

average pay of jobs in organization

pay level

pay level and job structure

pay structure

federal agency that insures retirement benefits and guarantees retirees a basic benefit if the employer experiences financial difficulties

pension benefit guarantee corporation (PBGC)

a defined-contribution plan in which the incentive may take form of ______________________.

profit-sharing and employee stock ownership plans

different employees in the same job may have different pay rates based on performance, seniority, etc.

rate ranges

companies reduce wages and hours and employees receive partial unemployment benefits, rather than laying off workers

sharedwork arrangements

insurance that pays a percentage of a disabled employee's salary as benefits to the employee for 6 months or less

short-term disability insurance

the federal Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance (OASDHI) program, which combines old age (retirement) insurance, survivor's insurance, hospital insurance (Medicare Part A), and supplementary medical insurance (Medicare Part B) for the elderly

social security

report that describes a pension plan's funding, eligibility requirements, risks, and other details

summary plan description (SPD)

a federally mandated program to minimize the hardships of unemployment through payments to unemployed workers, help in finding new jobs, and incentives to stabilize employment

unemployment insurance

earning a right to receive the pension

vesting

guarantee that when employees become participants in a pension plan and work a specified number of years, they will receive a pension at retirement age, regardless of whether they remained with the employer

vesting rights

state programs that provide benefits to workers who suffer work-related injuries or illnesses, or to their survivors

workers' compensation