HR Exam 4

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, organizations that have at least 50 full time employees must offer healthcare coverage or pay a penalty. The penalty amounts to

$2,000 annually for every full-time employee after the first 30

What are commission pay plans and how do they work?

- A variation on piece rates and bonuses is the payment of commission, or pay calculated as a percentage of sales - Commission rates vary tremendously from one industry and company to another - Some salespeople earn a commission in addition to a base salary - Other earn only commission -- called straight commission plan. This is common for insurance and real estate agents and car salespeople

The desired characteristics for employees undertaking an overseas assignment

- Competency in employees area of expertise - Ability to communicate verbally and non-verbally in the foreign country -Flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity, and sensitive to cultural differences - Motivation to succeed and enjoyment of challanges - Willingness to learn the foreign country's culture, language, and customs - Support from family members

Which personality traits are prevalent among employees who succeed in their work in foreign lands?

- Extroverted - Conscientious -Cooperative and tolerant

What are the four categories of a balance scorecard?

- Financial - Customer - Internal - Learning and growth

What is incentive pay?

- Forms of pay linked to an employee's performance as an individual, group member, or organization member. - Influential because the amount paid is linked to certain predefined behaviors or outcomes - May be in the form of a commission or a bonus - Organizations must make decisions with regards to incentive pay, such as bonuses and stock options - United States and Europe differ in the way they award stock options

Group types of compensation incentives

- Gainsharing - Group bonuses and team awards

What 3 elements are associated with a consumer-driven health plan?

- Health education for employees - High deductible - Medical savings account

Hofstede's 5 cultural dimensions

- Individualism/Collectivism - Power Distance - Uncertainty Avoidance - Masculinity/Femininity - Long term/Short term orientation

Under the Taft-Hartley Act, unions may not restrain employers through actions such as:

- Mass picketing in such numbers that nonstriking employees physically cannot enter the workplace - Engaging in violent acts in connections with a strike - Threatening employees with physical injury or job loss if they do not support union activities - During contract negotiations, insisting on illegal provisions, provisions that the employer may hire only workers who are union members or "satisfactory" to the union, or working conditions to be determined by a group to which the employer does not belong. - Terminating an existing contract and striking for a new one without notifying the employer, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the state mediation service.

What are some common voluntary benefits programs offered by employers?

- Medical care - Life insurance - Retirement plans - Paid Vacation - Sick leave - Paid holidays

What are performance bonuses? How are they different from merit increase?

- Not rolled into base pay - The employee must re-earn them during each performance period - May be a one-time reward - May be linked to objective performance measures, rather than subjective ratings

Types of employee wellness programs

- Passive programs - Active wellness programs

What describes a health maintenance organization (HMO)?

- Patients are allowed to see only medical personnel who are affiliated with the HMO> - Physicians work on salary instead of being paid a fee for each service - The patient pays nothing at the time of service, because premiums cover all visits and procedures in advance

Individual types of compensation incentives

- Piecework rates - Standard hour plans - Merit pay - Individual bonuses - Sales commission

Company/Organization types of compensation incentives

- Profit sharing - Stock Ownership

What employee benefits are not required by law?

- Retirement Plans - Life and Health Insurance - Paid Leave

What is true about most global organizations?

- They often have multiple HQs -They value flexibility -They embrace various cultures and see differences as an advantage

How do merit pay programs work

- To make merit increase consistent many merit pay programs have a merit increase grid - The decision about merit pay are based on two factors: the individual's performance rating and the individual's compa-ratio ( pay relative to average pay) - This system gives the biggest pay increase to the the best performers and to those who pay is relatively low for their job. - Organizations establish and revise merit increase grids in light of changing economic conditions. - When organizations revise pay ranges, employees have new compa-ratios - a higher pay range would result in lower compa-ratios, causing employees to become eligible for bigger merit increases - An advantage of merit pay is therefore that it makes the reward more valuable by relating it to economic conditions

Activities protected under the NLRA:

- Union organizing - Joining a union, whether recognized by the employer or not - Going out on strike to secure better working conditions

What employee benefits are required by law?

- Workers Compensation - Unemployment Insurance - Social Security Taxes - Family and Medical Leave - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

What are examples of short-term incentives used for executives?

- bonus based on profits - return on investment

What are the 3 levels of decisions involved with labor relations?

- contract negotiation - contract administration -labor relation strategy

What are the 2 main goals of a labor union?

- negotiate suitable pay - ensure appropriate working environment

Incentive pay sometimes presents executives with significant ethical issues. For example, an incentive linked to stock performance can lead to

- scandal that damages the company's reputation - executives dishonestly raising the price of stock and thereby obtaining a bonus and stock option

What is the function of the NLRB?

- to conduct and certify representation elections - to prevent unfair labor practices

Under a union shop arrangement, an employee must join the union within ______ days after being hired

30

Before the union organizing process can go forward, how many workers must sign an authorization card?

30%

What is a balanced scorecard?

A combination of performance measures directed toward the company's long and short term goals and used as the basis for awarding incentive pay

What are employee wellness programs?

A set of communications, activities, and facilities designed to change health related behaviors in ways that reduce health risks. Aims at specific health risks, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, smoking, and obesity, by encouraging preventive measures such as exercise and good nutrition.

What is the labor association that attempts to represent the mutual interests of its members at the national level?

AFL-CIO

What is a total pay package?

After setting the total pay, the organization divides the amount into the four components of a total pay package. The four components include: - Base Salary - Tax equalization allowance - Benefits - Allowances to make foreign assignment more attractive

What is a union or shop steward?

An employee elected by union members to represent them in ensuring that the terms of the contract are enforced. The union steward helps investigate complaints and represents employees to supervisors and other manager when employees file grievances alleging contract violations.

_____ union membership offers services such as credit cards and discounted health insurance, but it has no ties to the employee's workplace and does not provide representation in collective bargaining

Associate

Active wellness programs

Assume that behavior changes requires support and reinforcement along with awareness and opportunity. Example: Include counselors who adjust programs to individual employees' needs, take baseline measurements, and follow up measures for comparison.

What is the purpose of a labor union?

At times, workers have believed that their needs and interests do not receive enough consideration from management. One response by workers is to act collectively by forming and joining labor unions. A labor union is an organization formed to represent their members' interest and resolving conflicts with employers.

Which is true of collective bargaining?

Bargaining structure differs depending on the range of workers covered by a contract

Some managers at OnCall Operators hear that some employees are talking about organizing a union to represent the customer service agents, who are at the core of the company's operations. The managers are concerned and ask Emma, the HR manager, what they can do to make a union less likely. Which of the following statements would be best for Emma to include in her advice?

Be responsive to employees' problems and treat them all with respect

Denzel, an employer, received a grievance from Nigel, an employee who was dismissed recently. Denzel rejected Nigel's grievance as he believes that a grievance procedure can only be initiated if an employee is still currently working in his organization. Which of the following statements would prove that Denzel made a faulty decision?

Both an employees as well as a former employee can launch a grievance

A business employs many young workers who like to use their time off to travel to visit family or go on adventures. The human resource manager observes that when holidays do not fall on a Friday or Monday, workers are disappointed that having just one day off prevents them from traveling. Which would be the most effective way for the company to add to the value of the holiday schedule?

By using floating holidays to create long weekends of time off

Total Pay Package: Tax Equalization Allowance:

Companies have different system of taxing income, and in many countries, tax rates are much higher than in the U.S. The employer of an expatriate withholds the amount of tax to be paid in the parent country, than pays all of the taxes due in the country where the expatriate is working.

The management of Log Space Inc. allows employees to participate in decision making, maintains transparency of certain business information, and encourages the development of self-managed teams. In this scenario, which of the following is being implemented by Log Space?

Cooperation

Total Pay Package: Allowances to make foreign assignment more attractive:

Cost of living allowances make up the differences in expenses for day-to-day needs. Housing allowances ensure that the expatriate can maintain the same standard of living as in the U.S. Education allowances reimburse expatriates who pay tuition for their children to attend schools. Relocation allowances cover the expenses of making the move to the foreign country, including transportation, shipping or storage of possessions, and expenses for temporary housing until the employee can rent or purchase a home.

Which of the following expresses a reason why companies are moving away from offering defined-benefit plans and toward defined-contribution plans?

Defined contribution plans shift investment risk from employers to employees

Total Pay Package: Base Salary:

Different countries use different currencies. The exchange rate ( the rate at which one currency may be exchanged for another ) constantly shifts in response to a host of economic forces, so the real value of a salary in term of dollars is constantly changing. The base salary may be comparable to the pay of other managers at HQ or comparable to other managers at the foreign subsidiary. Expatriates' salaries are often higher than pay for staying at HQ.

Which of the following is legally required of employee benefits policies?

Disabled employees must have equal health insurance coverage as other employees.

Masculinity/Femininity

Emphasis a culture places on practices of qualities that have traditionally been considered masculine or feminine

What is an advantage of having employees participate in decisions about incentive pay plans?

Employees know what kinds of behavior can help the organization perform well

Which of the following is a disadvantage of an organization with a high-paying incentive scheme?

Employees may focus on only the performance measures that are rewarded

Which of the following is a disadvantage of cafeteria-style plans?

Employees selecting benefits lead to increasing costs

According to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is true about health care?

Employers must choose between paying a penalty or offering insurance meeting certain standards

What are the eligibility requirements and time off benefit under FMLA?

FMLA requires organizations with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius to provide as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave after childbirth or adoption; to care for a serious ill relative; or to take care of urgent needs that arise when a relative in the national guard or reserve is called to active duty. In addition, if a family member is injured while service on active military duty, the employee may take up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave. The law does not cover employees who have less than 1 year of service, work fewer than 25 hours per week, or are among the organizations 10% highest paid.

Identify, in order of importance, the qualities expatriates say are the most important when selecting candidates for international assignments

Family situation, flexibility and adaptability, job knowledge and motivation

Cowboy Burgers is planning to open two restaurants in the south of France. Which of the following statements would guide the restaurant chain's HR department to the best forecast for the number of people to hire there?

France is strict about protecting worker's jobs, so the company should hire only as many people as it's very likely to need

Gainsharing

Group incentive program that measures improvement in productivity and effectiveness and distributes a portion of each to employees. - Addresses challenge of identifying appropriate performance measures for complex jobs. - Frees employees to determine how to improve their own and their group's performance

Uncertainty Avoidance

How cultures handle the fact that the future is unpredictable

Which of the following statements is true about a standard hour plan of incentive pay?

If a mechanic completes work in less than the standard time, he receives payment for the full standard time

Bill, the CEO of an advertising firm, is very concerned about the performance of his company. He has noticed that productivity is decreasing every day as his company continues to grow. To counter this, Bill has decided to implement an incentive scheme to motivate his employees to work toward building a better-performing company. Which of the following statements weakens his decision?

In addition to incentives, employees also want interesting work, flexibility, and a sense of belonging to the work group.

Which of the following is true about retirement plans?

In cash balance plans, all contributions are made by employers

Most dramatic example of labor laws' influence is the 1953 passage of the Wagner Act, also known as the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). What did it do?

It actively supported collective bargaining. After Congress passed the NLRA, union membership in the United States nearly tripled.

What statement is correct regarding the National Labor Relations Board?

It can order the employer to reinstate workers, with or without back pay

Identify an advantage of the balance sheet approach to determining the compensation of expatriates

It helps managers to get the same standard of living as in the home country

Which of the following statements is true about the concept of profit sharing?

It is incentive pay in which payments are a percentage of the organization's profits and do not become part of the employee's base salary

The Taft-Hartley Act also allows the states to pass so called right-to-work laws. What are these laws and what do they do?

Make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal. The idea behind such laws is that requiring union membership or the payment of union dues restricts the employee's right to freedom of association. Employees should be free to choose whether they join a union or other group.

Stock ownership

Makes employees part owners of the organization. Intended as a way to encourage employees to focus on the success of the organization as a whole

Carlos is from Mexico and has been hired as a warehouse manager for a company in Brazil. The company in Brazil is owned by a company in the United States. Which of these countries would be considered a third country in this scenario?

Mexico

Total Pay Package: Benefits

Most benefit issues have to do with whether an employee can use the same benefits in the foreign country. Example: health insurance.

How is unemployment insurance funded?

Most funding comes from Federal and State taxes on employers

What are the function of the NLRB?

NLRB prevents unfair labor practices by educating employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities under the National Labor Relation Act and by responding to complaints.

Nina is about to take a 10-week vacation, and she states her reason for the long leave to her manager. According to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which of the following reasons will justify that the organization's decision to grant unpaid family leave to Nina is a valid decision?

Nina has to look after her child who is seriously ill

What is NAFTA?

North American Free Trade Agreement. It's an agreement between Mexico, Canada, and the United States that says they would remove tariff barriers for easier trading with each other.

What is the average cost of employee benefits as a percentage of base pay?

On average, out of every dollar spent on compensation, more than $0.30 goes to benefits

What is the difference between shares of stock and stock options?

One important difference between shares of stock and stock options is the shares of stock give you a small piece of ownership in the company, while options are just contracts that give you the right to buy or sell the stock at a specific price by a specific date.

________ is a time off where the employer pools personal days, sick days, and vacation days for employees to use as the need and desire arises

Paid time off

Zachary is a human resource manager at a company reviewing its incentive pay plan. He stresses to his staff that they must continually communicate with employees about the purpose and impact of the review and any changes to the pay plan. Why is communication so important in this situation?

Pay is very important to employees and therefore a subject of rumors.

Profit sharing

Payments are a percentage of the organization's profits and do not become part of the employee's base salary

What is the difference between performance bonuses and merit pay?

Performance bonuses are not built into base pay

In Hofstede's classic study of culture, which dimension refers to the way a culture deals with unequal distribution of power?

Power distance

Which type of health care plan contracts with health care professionals to offer services at lower rates?

Preferred provider organization (PPO)

What is a true statement about cross-cultural preparation for an international assignment?

Preparation for departure includes language instruction

Which of the following phases of preparation for an international assignment involves providing information about the employee's community and parent-country workplace?

Preparation for the return to the home country

Passive employee wellness programs

Provide info and services, but no formal support or motivation to use the program Example: health education and fitness facilities

The Landrum-Griffin Act

Regulates unions' actions with regards to their members, including financial disclosure and the conduct of elections. This law establishes and protects rights of union members. These include the right to nominate candidates for union office, participate in union meetings and secret-ballot elections, and examine union's' financial records

What is a cross-cultural preparation?

Steps an organization takes to prepare employees and their families for work in a foreign country

Samira makes necklaces. Her buyer pays her $50 per necklace. This is an example of a(n)

Straight piecework plan

Individualism/Collectivism

Strength of the relation between an individual and other individuals in the society

Long term/Short term Orientation

Suggests whether the focus of cultural values in on the future (long term) or the past and present (short term)

Originally, the NLRA didn't list any unfair labor practices by unions. In later amendments to the NLRA -- The _____________ Act and The _________ Act -- Congress established some restrictions on union practices deemed unfair to employers and union members

The Taft-Hartley Act and The Landrum-Griffin Act

Which of the following is a characteristic of employee benefits?

The benefits offered change over a period of time.

The balanced scorecard for the production manager of Cloud Phone includes goals for on-time shipments, product quality, cost savings, and energy efficiency. The quality goals are weighted to determine 50% of the production manager's incentive pay. What information does this scorecard give the manager about the company's objectives?

The company has several production objectives but especially cares about quality.

Harvest Master, a maker of farm equipment based in Nebraska, is planning to send a U.S. marketing manager to lead a product launch in a country with a socialist economic system. As the human resource department plans this assignment, what impact of the host country's economic system will it need to address?

The host country will likely tax a larger percentage of the manager's income than the United States would

Which federal agency requires companies to reveal how much their executives are paid and how well the company has performed in comparison to its business rivals?

The securities and exchange commission (SEC)

Dan, a human resource professional at a Denver-based company, is evaluating a candidate for a management position in Kuwait. Besides assessing the candidate's interests, personality, and skills, Dan gives the candidate assignments that focus on cross-cultural training. What is the purpose of these assignments?

They help the candidate to gain an appreciation of the host country's culture

During her 6 month stay in Greece, Heidi realized that the people there tend to rely heavily on religion to give them a sense of security. Which aspect of Hofstede's cultural dimensions does this demonstrate?

Uncertainty avoidance

In Hofstede's classic study of culture, which dimension describes how cultures handle the fact that the future is unpredictable?

Uncertainty avoidance

Which of the following statements expresses a common societal concern about unions?

Unions in some industries are so strong they interfere withe employers' ability to compete

Which of the following activities would most likely be an action of a worker center?

Using publicity to pressure employers to treat their workers better

Power Distance

Way the culture deals with unequal distribution of power and defines the amount of inequality that is normal

What is managed care?

With managed care, the insurer plays a role in decisions about health care, aimed at avoiding unnecessary procedures. The insurer may conduct claims review, studying claims to determine whether procedures are effective for the type of illness or injury. Patients may be required to obtain approval before hospital admissions, and the insurer may require alternatives to hospital stays.

The NLRB consists of

a 5 member board, the general counsel, and 52 regional and other field offices

a company that has multiple headquarters scattered around the world, tailors its products to specific market segments, keep expenses to a minimum, and uses cultural difference to its advantage is called

a global organization

host country national

a person whose nationality is the same as that of the firm, but different from the country in which they are working example: Japanese manager working for a UK-based subsidiary of a Japanese company

closed shop

a place of work where membership in a union is a condition for being hired and for continued employment

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act gives shareholders of public companies

a vote of approval or disapproval on the company's' executive pay plans

Piecework rate plan

a wage based on the amount an employee produces

In Hofstede's classic study of culture, a "masculine" culture values

achievement

balance sheet pay approach for expatriates

adjusts manager's compensation so that it gives the manager same standard of living as in their home country plus extra pay for inconvenience of locating overseas

Will is required to pay union dues at his company but he is not required to be a member of the union. This is an example of an

agency shop

What is the most common form of employee ownership?

an ESOP plan

Courtney is the HR manager at Automation Specialists. The company's executives want to give employees an ownership stake in the company, so employees will think more like owners, focusing on how they contribute to the organization's success. What kind of pay system could Courtney suggest that would best support the desired attitude at all levels of the organization?

an employee stock ownership plan

Standard hour plans

an incentive plan that pays workers extra for work done in less than a preset "standard time"

profit-sharing plan

an incentive system in which, at the end of the year, some portion of the company's profits is paid into a profit-sharing pool, which is then distributed to all employees

A company that operates in more than one country is called

an international organization

What is considered the most formal type of involvement by a third party to prevent a strike?

arbitration

Under a check provision, union dues are

automatically taken out of the worker's paycheck

The NLRB is responsible for determining the appropriate _____________ and the employees who are eligible to participate in organizing activities.

bargaining unit

Difference between group bonuses and team awards incentives

bonuses for group performance tend to be for smaller work groups. These bonuses reward the members of a group for attaining a specific goal, usually measure in terms of physical output. Team awards are similar to group bonuses, but they are more likely to use a broad range of performance measures, such as cost savings, successful completion of a project, or even meeting deadlines.

A retirement plan known as a ___________________ plan allows the employer to set up an individual account for each employee and the employer then contributes a percentage of the employee's salary. The account also earns interest at a predefined rate

cash balance

The teachers union has been negotiating with the school board on behalf of all the teachers for a 4% pay increase and two additional sick-days each year. The teachers union is in the process of ______.

collective bargaining

a 529 savings plan is used for

college savings

Two activities especially helpful in making expatriate reentry into the domestic workplace successfully are

communication and validation

merit pay plan

compensation plans that formally base at least some meaningful portion of compensation on merit

The government raises Social Security payments each year to adjust for inflation in the

consumer price index

checkoff provison

contract provision under which the employer, on behalf of the union, automatically deducts union dues from employees' paycheck

A union might decide to bring public, financial, or political pressure on employers during union organizations and contract negotiation. This is called a(n) _______ campaign

corporate

A labor union whose members all have the same skill or occupation is call a

craft union

Glen, the owner of a fast expanding start-up, wants to match performance criteria to the ways the managers contribute to goal achievement. He decides to do this by awarding his managers incentive pay based on a set of performance measures associated with his company's long-term and short-term goals. In order to do this, Glen should

create a balance scorecard

Jesse has moved from the United States to Indonesia to work for a textile firm. Soon after her arrival, she became uncomfortable with the idea that she had to live in a gated residence for her safety and chickens were allowed to run wild on the streets. Jesse is experiencing

culture shock

Caroline works in a candy production plant. If she fills more than 10 boxes, she earns $1.50 per box. This demonstrates the idea of a ________ piece rate

differential

Expatriate

employees assigned to work in another country

a ________ is a third party who explains the reasons for a dispute, along with the perspectives and arguments form both sides, and possibly suggests a settlement

fact finder

For which type of job is a gainsharing plan most useful?

for a complex job

agency shop

form of union security agreement where the employer may hire union or non-union workers, employees don't have to join the union in order to remain employed. Non-union workers must pay a fee to cover collective bargaining cost

Repatriation is the process of preparing employees to return home

from a foreign assignment

Grey Enterprises is an organization that has facilities located in five different countries and treats cultural differences as an advantage. They have different departments headquartered in each country to facilitate efficient and flexible production of their merchandise. This would imply that Grey Enterprises is a(n)

global organization

Hofstede's ___________ cultural dimension describes the strength of the relationship between an individual and society as a whole

individualism / collectivism

third country national

individuals who are in transit and/or applying for visas in countries that are not their country of origin

The organizing process begins when union representatives

make contact with employees and present their message about the union

Retirement plans funded entirely by the employer as referred to as

noncontributory plans

Which type of decision by U.S. companies often involves setting up operations in another, lower-wage country and hiring employees there?

outsourcing a function

The amount of money a retiree will receive from a defined-contribution plan depends on the

performance of the investment

union shop

place of work where employers may hire nonunion workers who must join a labor union within a agreed time

Management goals are to increase the organization's ________ and raise output

profit

A culture with a long-term orientation would tend to value

saving

The deadline for filing a charge of unfair labor practices with the NLRB is _____ months after the incident occurred

six

Danielle, an HR manager, has been assigned the task of giving out incentives to small groups of employees in appreciation for accomplishing specific goals in reducing energy consumption. Danielle should give out the incentives in the form of

team awards

Decisions about which benefits an organization will include should take into account

the expectations of the organization's current employees.

Acculturation

the process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group

parent country national

these employees are hired for jobs in their own country example: United Kingdom citizen who is employed at Coca Cola's UK subsidiary is a local national

A type of HRM that makes decisions from a global perspective and is based on ideas contributed by people of different cultures is called a

transnational HRM system

Workers whose contributions are _______ have satisfied the requirements to be paid a pension when they retire, even if they did not remain with the employer until that time.

vested