BUSN-303 Exam #3

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How much does the average American spend annually to commute to work?

Answer: $2,600

Which level of union membership is typically necessary for employer recognition?

Answer: 10 percent

The percentage method normally taxes a bonus at

Answer: 25%

When a company has a bi-weekly pay period, how many checks per year will employees receive?

Answer: 26

A part-time employee is someone who works less than ______ hours per week.

Answer: 30

In American firms, benefits typically account for what percent of total compensation?

Answer: 30%

What percent of studies have found that individual performance increases when pay is tied to performance?

Answer: 95%

Which of the following is a non-financial reward based on an employee's relationship to the employer?

Answer: Challenging work

What is true in a "tight" labor market?

Answer: Demand for qualified workers exceeds their supply.

Which of the following is part of compensation strategy?

Answer: External competitiveness

Changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reflect changes in employees' costs of living.

Answer: FALSE

Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 offers paid Family Leave to employees in companies of over 50 employees.

Answer: FALSE

For employers, the tax treatment of benefits makes them less appealing than wages.

Answer: FALSE

If an employee quits a job voluntarily, he or she can still qualify for unemployment benefits.

Answer: FALSE

Private Companies are required by federal law to pay holiday pay.

Answer: FALSE

Rewards beyond pay do not play a role in your ability to attract and retain employees.

Answer: FALSE

What is the approach called when employees are offered a package of benefits that includes basic and optional items?

Answer: Flexible benefits

Your company is one of many in the local tech industry that wants to grow by hiring the top talent in the market. As an HR partner in charge of the recruiting efforts, what should you do first?

Answer: Gain knowledge of pay and benefit programs in your industry. Extra: This will provide you with a starting point for how competitive your pay package must be.

Strategy includes all but which of the following questions?

Answer: How many employees do we need?

______ : the education, training, knowledge, abilities, and skills required to perform work- is a major influence on pay structures.

Answer: Human Capital

What has the IRS published to simplify the independent contractor classification?

Answer: IRS 20 Factor Test

To make meaningful pay comparisons, you should choose relevant competitors. To do that, you should consider all of the following, except:

Answer: Internet-based salary sites

What does the rise in social media and self-organizing groups mean for HR departments?

Answer: More rapid responses are required.

What should be the first step after exhausting the possibility of informal resolution of a conduct or disciplinary matter?

Answer: Notify the employee of a formal disciplinary process.

All but which one of the following are components of executive pay plans?

Answer: Overtime compensation

To develop a ranking of jobs in terms of their relative worth, a small business with fewer than about ten different jobs should use which one of the following processes?

Answer: Ranking

Which of the following is not one of Maslow's "Deficiency needs"?

Answer: Self Actualization

An employer's pay level is limited by its ability to compete in product/service markets.

Answer: TRUE

An example of a defined-contribution pension plan is a 401(k) plan.

Answer: TRUE

Internal alignment describes pay relationships among different jobs within a single organization.

Answer: TRUE

Job-based pay structures assume each job has an intrinsic worth to a firm, regardless of who occupies that job.

Answer: TRUE

Pay levels that lead the competition are most likely to be found in jobs that are most directly related to an organization's success.

Answer: TRUE

Relational databases store data in separate files that can be linked by common elements, such as name, social security number, job location, mailing address, or birthdate, among others.

Answer: TRUE

The Family and Medical Leave Act covers all private-sector employers with 50 or more employees.

Answer: TRUE

Vesting occurs when employees can claim their employers' contributions to their pension plans.

Answer: TRUE

Pay improves performance, as long as the employer makes clear to employees how their performance can result in payouts.

Answer: TRUE. Extra: Research suggests that pay programs are effective for routine tasks but not for nonroutine tasks, particularly those requiring creativity.

Organization-specific factors that help shape pay structures inside an organization include all of the following, except:

Answer: Technology

Which law specifies the federal minimum wage?

Answer: The Fair Labor Standards Act

Monetary compensation includes all but one of the following:

Answer: Unemployment insurance

How do variable pay programs differ from other pay programs?

Answer: Variable pay programs provide incentives for meeting individual, group, or organizational performance goals. Extra: Using a variable pay program provides bonuses and other incentives for more than simply individual performance improvement.

What can transform a dream job into a living nightmare?

Answer: a bad manager

What is a Cafeteria Plan?

Answer: a program allowing contributions of gross income to designated accounts before taxes

Which one of the following benefits is not legally required?

Answer: a retirement savings plan

What do aptitude tests measure?

Answer: ability to do the job

What is a Flexible Spending Account?

Answer: account with pre-tax earnings are help to pay for medical or dependent care expenses.

When an employee is summoned for jury duty, the employer must

Answer: allow the employee to come back to work following the jury duty .

The best way to understand exactly what forms of compensation and benefits your organization offers, to whom, and at what cost is through

Answer: an internal audit, sorted by employee groups

What is an example of a short-term executive incentive?

Answer: annual bonus

While filling out the quarterly survey, Harriet and her coworkers joke, "We get surveyed, but nothing changes!" What is the likely outcome

Answer: apathy

Why do employees who have PTO generally feel more empowered?

Answer: because don't have to justify each day off

How can you set yourself apart as an influential HR partner?

Answer: by understanding the effect of pay programs on your organization, current employees, and potential employees Extra: If you understand how these three areas are affected, you will set yourself apart as someone who knows how to truly deliver value.

What gave rise to the field of employee relations?

Answer: conflict between workers and employers

Which terms best describe current, productive working relationships between HR and employee representatives?

Answer: cooperative, strategic, and adaptive

Incentives are generally based on

Answer: employee performance and company performance

The concept of inclusion refers primarily to _____.

Answer: equal access

To offset business related expenses, some companies offer

Answer: expense accounts

You can only determine the compensation package you want when you take time to review _____.

Answer: expenses, finances, budget

What characterizes a psychologically unsafe workplace?

Answer: fear of being open and honest

Collaborative discussions aimed at resolving a conflict in Abigail's division have failed to yield an agreement. What is the next step?

Answer: formal negotiation

Under COBRA, companies are required to offer you the opportunity to continue _________ for a specified period of time.

Answer: group health care coverage

What will you get as a result of working as an intern?

Answer: higher salary offers

To justify you're worth the salary you're requesting, what should you do?

Answer: highlight past accomplishments and impact on past employers

The amount you obtain at retirement depends on ______

Answer: how well the investments you choose performed .

The employer is required to start withholding garnishment from an employee's check

Answer: immediately

Which of the following is NOT required to be kept as part employee record retention?

Answer: inquiries from prospective employees

What do skills tests measure?

Answer: job related competencies

Howard is in the middle of an escalating conflict between management and labor. Which sort of approach to facilitation should Howard avoid?

Answer: listing points of disagreement and penalizing uncooperativeness

Skill-based pay plans are most popular in _____.

Answer: manufacturing jobs

Which process for conflict resolution is typically least formal?

Answer: mediation

Workers' compensation is

Answer: no-fault insurance

To qualify for the Administrative Employee Exemption, the employee's primary duty must be

Answer: office or non-manual work directly related to the management .

Company-paid life insurance for each employee is typically payable

Answer: one year at a time

Hourly employees are not exempt from what?

Answer: overtime

As firms expand into overseas markets, they typically adopt one of three types of compensation plans. Which of the following is not one of them?

Answer: pay parity

What is usually a company's largest expense?

Answer: payroll

Performance reviews for pay purposes are part of a larger, more frequent process of _____.

Answer: performance management

Organizations often give employees direct access to information about their total rewards through _____.

Answer: personalized benefits statements

What is an example of an individual incentive plan?

Answer: piece-rates

You can save money on benefit deductions when they are made

Answer: pre-tax

Which factor is only indirectly impacted by pay?

Answer: products or services customers receive. Extra: There can be many factors relating to quality other than employee motivation or engagement, so this is an indirect effect.

Fringe benefits can include the following, EXCEPT:

Answer: promotion

Health care cost-containment strategies include all of the following, except: _____.

Answer: providing first-dollar coverage

What is the most important characteristic of any type of performance rating?

Answer: relevance

The most common uses of technology in the administration of compensation and benefits include all of the following, except:

Answer: scheduling interviews among job candidates

Employers typically consider all of the following in deciding whether to lead, lag, or match the pay rates of competitors, except:

Answer: secondary markets

What does a PPO include?

Answer: services offered through a network of healthcare providers

The more you learn, the more you earn" is a basic principle of _________ pay systems

Answer: skill- or competency-based

What benefits begin on your first day of employment?

Answer: social security and workers comp

Your new tech company is small yet growing in a competitive market. Where should you set your base payline to attract the best employees?

Answer: somewhat above the 50th percentile of the other companies in your industry. Extra: If you do this, potential employees have no particular reason to approach you rather than approach another company.

What should incentive plans be?

Answer: specific, simple, attainable

After you receive a written offer what can an employer change?

Answer: terms of your employment

What is the "going rate" of pay for a job typically defined as?

Answer: the 50th percentile of base pay

Who is responsible for deciding when an employee will receive their final paycheck?

Answer: the State they live and work in

Which country's laws apply to disputes between employers and employees?

Answer: the country in which the work takes place

In a defined-benefit pension plan, who assumes the risk?

Answer: the employer

Who is responsible for payroll tax errors in an outsourcing relationship?

Answer: the employer

What should you negotiate in addition to salary and benefits?

Answer: the entire job offer

What do commissions and bonuses have the biggest impact on?

Answer: the motivation to perform well

What is true about exempt employees?

Answer: they not paid overtime

Which of the following is not a key objective in communicating benefits?

Answer: to help them spend their money wisely

you have been tasked with creating a pay strategy. When you complete the task, where should you look for the most important input on your pay design?

Answer: to your company's key stakeholders. Extra: The input of key stakeholders, including senior management, must be incorporated into your pay design because they have final approval.

How many more checks will you receive if paid bi-weekly vs. semi monthly?

Answer: two

Which of the following is an example of pay for time not worked?

Answer: vacations

When would you set pay at an entry amount for routine jobs?

Answer: when there is little performance variation between the tasks employees perform. Extra: From the entry amount, you can add automatic pay increases over a set time schedule.

How often can you negotiate an early performance review?

Answer: when you're hired

The use of video in benefits communication is most effective _____.

Answer: with complex topics

What are Defined Contribution Plans?

Answer: you and your employer both contribute funds for your retirement


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