Question 1

If an employee conducts a personal phone call at work,the employer can legally eavesdrop and monitor the phone call.

Accepted Answer

Employers are required to respect their employees' privacy rights and monitoring personal phone calls without consent violates those rights. However, if the phone call is being made on a company-owned phone or during work hours, employers may have policies in place that allow them to monitor the call for quality assurance or training purposes.

Question 2

With constructive discharge claims,plaintiffs argue that they quit because their employer made the work situation so intolerable.

Accepted Answer

With constructive discharge claims, the plaintiff argues that they were forced to quit because of an intolerable work situation created by the employer.

Question 3

Because seniority is usually company wide,an employee in one job can bump or displace an employee in another job,provided the more senior person can do the job without further training.

Accepted Answer

Seniority is usually company wide and allows a more senior employee in one job to bump or displace a less senior employee in another job, provided they can do the job without further training.

Question 4

The fair treatment of job applicants by HR managers leads to applicants having favorable opinions about the selection procedure and and the organization.

Accepted Answer

Fair treatment during the selection process creates a positive impression of the organization for job applicants. It can lead to increased motivation and engagement among employees who feel that they have been treated fairly throughout the hiring process.

Question 5

Employers should avoid providing dismissed employees with full explanations of why and how termination decisions were made because such details typically lead the former employees to file wrongful discharge lawsuits.

Accepted Answer

Employers should provide dismissed employees with clear reasons for their termination decision to avoid ambiguity and confusion. Providing full explanations can also help prevent potential lawsuits by demonstrating a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the termination.

Question 6

When firms do not deal swiftly and fairly with the unethical behavior of employees,ethical employees feel penalized.

Accepted Answer

Ethical employees may feel that their hard work is undermined when unethical behavior goes unchecked, leading to a sense of frustration and discouragement. If the firm does not take action, it can send the message that unethical behavior is tolerated or even rewarded, potentially leading to further breaches of ethics.

Question 7

Unfortunately,employers have no tools for measuring the ethics of an individual during the applicant screening process,so employers do not realize they have hired an unethical person until it is too late.

Accepted Answer

Employers can eliminate many ethics problems by making effective hiring decisions. Conducting assessment tests, reference and background checks, drug testing, and making clearly defined job descriptions can reduce the need for many dismissals.

Question 8

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires publicly traded companies to declare whether they have a code of conduct,and it increases penalties for companies convicted of ethics violations if they have codes of conduct that were not properly enforced.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires publicly traded companies...

Question 9

The principal cause of ethical compromises is based on organizational pressure to meet a schedule or some other objective.

Accepted Answer

Organizational pressure to meet objectives such as schedules or financial targets can lead individuals to feel compelled to compromise their ethics in order to achieve these goals. This can result in unethical behavior and decision-making within the organization.

Question 10

The four main types of privacy upheld by courts are intrusion,publication of private matters,disclosure of medical records,and appropriation of an employee's name or likeness for commercial purposes.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. These four types of privacy are recognized and protected by courts in various jurisdictions.

Question 11

Merit is the primary consideration used to determine which employees will remain with a firm and which ones will be dismissed when layoffs are necessary.

Accepted Answer

Seniority rather than merit or ability is the ultimate determinant regarding who will remain working.

Question 12

Nonpunitive discipline is discipline involving oral warnings and paid "decision-making leaves of absence."

Accepted Answer

Nonpunitive discipline is a type of discipline that does not involve punishment or negative consequences for the employee. It may involve verbal warnings and paid time off for the employee to reflect on their behavior and make better decisions in the future.

Question 13

Although clarifying performance standards for employees makes them feel like performance appraisals are fair,involving employees in decision-making has no impact on perceived fairness.

Accepted Answer

Involving employees in decision-making has been found to have a positive impact on perceived fairness during performance appraisals.

Question 14

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers of 100 or more employees to give 60 days' notice before closing a facility.

Accepted Answer

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, also known as the WARN Act, mandates that employers with 100 or more workers must provide 60 days' written notice before shutting down a facility or initiating mass layoffs.

Question 15

Experts recommend scheduling termination interviews for at least thirty minutes to allow plenty of time for outplacement counseling.

Accepted Answer

Termination interviews should be no more than ten minutes long.Outplacement counseling does not occur during the termination interview.

Question 16

Wrongful discharge occurs when an employee's dismissal does not comply with the law or with the contractual agreement stated or implied by the firm through its employment application forms and employee manuals.

Accepted Answer

Wrongful discharge refers to an illegal or unjust termination of an employee that violates their legal rights or the employer's contractual obligations.

Question 17

A firm's ethics code outlines its mission,vision,appraisal system,and hiring policies.

Accepted Answer

A firm's ethics code outlines principles and guidelines for ethical behavior within the organization. It typically includes standards for behavior, such as honesty, integrity, and respecting others. It may also cover policies for reporting misconduct, conflicts of interest, and other ethical issues. While the code may refer to the company's mission and values, it does not typically cover the firm's vision, appraisal system, or hiring policies. Those would be covered in separate documents or policies.

Question 18

Nonpunitive discipline attempts to gain short-term compliance from employees,while traditional discipline seeks long-term cooperation.

Accepted Answer

Traditional discipline has two potential drawbacks. First, no one likes to be punished. Second, punishment tends to gain short-term compliance, but not the sort of long-term cooperation employers often prefer. Nonpunitive discipline aims to avoid these drawbacks by gaining employees' acceptance of the rules while reducing the punitive nature of the discipline itself.

Question 19

With a system of progressive penalties,the severity of the penalty depends on the offense and the employee's seniority level.

Accepted Answer

A system of progressive penalties is an aspect of effective discipline. Penalties typically range from oral warnings to written warnings to suspension from the job to discharge. The severity of the penalty is usually a function of the type of offense and the number of times it has occurred.

Question 20

The Evil Woman Thesis argues that when a woman doesn't act the way men and other women think she should,they will tend to treat her more harshly than they might if the alleged misdeed was done by a man.

Accepted Answer

The Evil Woman Thesis suggests that women who do not conform to traditional gender roles or societal expectations may face harsher judgment and criticism from others, particularly men and other women. This can manifest in various ways, such as being labeled as "bitchy," "cold," or "manipulative," while men who exhibit similar behavior may not face the same level of scrutiny or criticism.

Quiz 14: Ethics, Justice, and Fair Treatment in HR Management