Deck 7: Economic Issues

Question 1

Most union labor agreements specify daily or weekly work schedules and most provide premium pay for hours worked beyond the normal hours.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The monetary value of employee benefits provided by unionized employers exceeds the value of employee benefits provided by nonunion employers.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The term "value added" refers to the contribution of factors of production to the value of a final product or service.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

It is common for labor agreements to contain a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)clause during the term of the contract.

Question 5

Wage comparability is not given much importance in wage determination

Question 6

Management prefers to include the union to conduct job evaluations for employees in a firm.

Question 7

Union leaders often view management-exclusive job evaluation with disfavor because it tends to limit bargaining opportunities and freeze wage structure.

Question 8

Most unions consider gain sharing plans as an adequate substitute for traditional negotiated hourly wage gains in their labor contracts.

Question 9

Labor market wage surveys measure how the job content,method of payment,regularity of employment,supplemental unemployment benefits,vacations,pensions,and holidays vary from company to company.

Question 10

Skill-based pay (SBP)systems base compensation on the skills or knowledge an employee possesses that are valued by the employer.

Question 11

The majority of private sector employees participate in a profit sharing plan as incentive.

Question 12

Unions often prefer defined contribution plans because it limits their financial obligations to fund the plan.

Question 13

Contract language that specifies a newly hired employee will be paid less than other employees performing a similar job is referred to as a Two-Tier Wage plan.

Question 14

Wages and other economic benefits represent income to employees,costs to an employer,and a basis for tax revenue to the government.

Question 15

A higher degree of labor intensiveness increases management negotiators' resistance to bargaining proposals designed to increase wage rates.

Question 16

If a union wishes to encourage solidarity within its membership at a particular firm,it should not negotiate for a two-tier pay plan.

Question 17

Unions generally favor the use of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)as a basic pension plan for employees.

Question 18

Pressure from domestic and international competition has increased management's ability to simply pass increased labor costs on to the customer in the form of higher prices

Question 19

A Scanlon plan,Rucker plan,and Improshare plan are all examples of gain sharing plans.

Question 20

Supplemental unemployment benefits (SUB)are payments made by the federal government to unemployed workers during a layoff.

Question 21

The federal agency responsible for enforcement of the Family and Medical Leave Act is:

A) Family and Medical Leave Administration.
B) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
C) Department of Labor.
D) Federal Standards Board.
E) National Labor Relations Board.

Question 22

The plan to which companies make monetary payments to a specific group or groups of employees for producing more output or generating cost savings beyond some established goal is called a:

A) Gain-sharing plan
B) Profit sharing plan
C) Fee-for-service plan
D) Graded vesting schedule
E) Liberty plan.

Question 23

The most common formula for adjusting wages to the cost of living is:

A) Wages increased 3 cents for each 0.1 rise in the CPI-W.
B) A percentage increase in wages for each percentage increase in the CPI-W.
C) Wages increased 1 cent-per-hour increase for each 0.3 point increase in the CPI-W.
D) Wages increased 1 cent for each 0.2 rise in the CPI-W.
E) Wages increased 4 cent-per-hour increase for each 0.3 point increase in the CPI-W.

Question 24

Job factors used in evaluating jobs include skill,effort,responsibility,and working conditions in varying degrees depending on the type of organization.

Question 25

The U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that both private sector union and nonunion workers receive a median__________paid vacation days after one year of service

A) 6.
B) 7.
C) 10.
D) 14.
E) 15.

Question 26

The process of systematically securing information and facts about what employees do in various jobs is called a job description.

Question 27

Which federal agency is responsible for computing and reporting the Consumer Price Index (CPI)?

A) Department of Agriculture.
B) Department of Commerce.
C) Department of State.
D) Department of Labor.
E) Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Question 28

The clause written into collective bargaining agreements which seeks to maintain pay comparability and pay differentials within firms is called the:

A) Ability to pay clause.
B) Relevant contract clause.
C) Re-opener clause.
D) Nondiscrimination clause.
E) Me-too clause.

Question 29

The labor relations term written to permit wages to be renegotiated at a specified point in time during the term of the contract or whenever some predetermined event occurs is the:

A) Lump-sum pay adjustments.
B) Cost-of-living adjustment.
C) Wage re-opener.
D) Open-ended contract.
E) Spillover effect.

Question 30

A major reason for a piece-rate compensation plan is that many production jobs are machine paced,so employees have limited control over the pace of work and thus the number of items produced during scheduled work hours.

Question 31

The labor relations term for a written clause in a labor agreement which adjusts wages in accordance with changes in the consumer price index at specified intervals during the contract's term is the:

A) Cost-of-living adjustment.
B) Wage re-opener.
C) Lump sum pay adjustments.
D) Wage spread.
E) Spillover effect.

Question 32

Under a cliff vesting schedule,an employee is considered fully vested after completing ____ years of service.

A) 10
B) 5
C) 15
D) 20
E) 30

Question 33

The act that was amended in 1987 to prohibit any mandatory retirement age,with the exception of airline pilots,using 70 as a mandatory retirement age is the:

A) Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)of 1974.
B) Pension Protection Act of 2006.
C) Affordable Care Act.
D) Patient Protection Act.
E) Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

Question 34

On reaching retirement age,a retiree may generally choose to accept an annuity payment (e.g. ,$10,000 per year for life)based on the value of the account balance or receive a;

A) Golden parachutes distribution.
B) Lump-sum distribution.
C) Skill-based distribution.
D) Secured-income distribution.
E) Guaranteed-salary distribution

Question 35

A deferred wage increase is a method used to adjust employee base wage rates during the term of a labor agreement.

Question 36

The labor relations term for a one-time payment made to adjust wages which does not affect an employee's hourly base wage rate is:

A) Holiday pay.
B) Wage re-opener.
C) Vacation pay.
D) Lump-sum pay adjustment.
E) Spillover effect.

Question 37

One of the most popular group incentive plan for sharing labor cost savings is the:

A) Merit savings plan.
B) Profit sharing plan.
C) Piece rate plan.
D) Scanlon plan.
E) Premium pay plan.

Question 38

All of the following are group incentive plans except:

A) Improshare.
B) Scanlon plan.
C) Piece-rate plan.
D) Rucker plan.
E) Gainsharing programs.

Question 39

During economic downturns and recessions,management will often claim an inability to pay as a criterion for wage determination.

Question 40

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 requires that private sector employers to provide eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if the firm has:

A) 25or more employees.
B) 50or more employees.
C) 100 or more employees.
D) 500 or more employees.
E) 1,000 or more employees.

Question 41

The expected employee output that is consistent with workmanship quality,operational efficiency,and reasonable working capacities of normal operators is called:

A) ​Production standards.
B) ​Performance assessment.
C) ​Negotiated provisions.
D) ​Time studies.
E) ​Job analysis.

Question 42

The plan which bases compensation on the skills or knowledge an employee possesses and is valued by the employer is called the:

A) ​Scanlon plan.
B) ​Improshare plan.
C) ​Skill-base pay plan.
D) ​Rucker plan.
E) ​Production plan.

Question 43

The process of systematically securing information and facts about what employees do in various jobs is called:

A) ​Job description.
B) ​Job specification.
C) ​Job analysis.
D) ​Job factor.
E) ​Job classification.

Question 44

Contract language that specifies a newly hired employee will be paid less than other employees performing a similar job is referred to as a:

A) ​Skill pay differential.
B) ​Two-tier Wage plan.
C) ​Wage standard.
D) ​Wage comparability.
E) ​Scanlon plan.

Question 45

The following preliminary conclusions may be reported based on a research on the effects of ESOPs except:

A) Labor-management cooperation does not emerge automatically when publicly traded companies move into employee ownership.
B) Employee ownership leads to greater identification of the employees with the company.
C) The presence of an ESOP does not make a firm more productive,efficient,or profitable.
D) Employees receive less information about the company.
E) Generally,the role of the union does not change except when the union made an early and ongoing effort to become involved in the change process.

Question 46

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 provide eligible employees up to ____ weeks of unpaid leave for a serious illness,birth or adoption of a child,or care of a seriously ill child,spouse,or parent.

A) 4
B) 6
C) 8
D) 10
E) 12

Question 47

The plan based on a change in the ratio between labor costs and dollar value added is called the:

A) ​Scanlon plan.
B) ​Improshare plan.
C) ​Skill-base pay plan.
D) ​Rucker plan.
E) ​Production plan.