Deck 39: Regulation of Employment

Question 1

Collective bargaining agreements generally are subject to a ratification vote by the employees.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Grievance procedures established in most collective bargaining agreements provide a means by which persons claiming the contract has been violated may have their cases decided by impartial third parties.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Public policy exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine apply only to "whistleblowing" situations.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

In some states, a "service-letter" statute requires an employer on request to furnish a discharged employee with a letter stating the reason for the discharge.

Question 5

The NLRA does not prohibit discrimination against employees for engaging in union activities, provided that employees are warned of the possible consequences of their union activities.

Question 6

An employment contract always will state a time or duration for the contract's applicability.

Question 7

Under the employment-at-will doctrine, the employer has historically been allowed to terminate the employment contract at any time for any reason or for no reason.

Question 8

An employer has a "shop right" to use an invention of an employee without payment to the employee if the invention was made during working hours with the employer's material and equipment.

Question 9

The right of employees to collectively bargain is guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Question 10

The rights of an employee with respect to compensation are governed in general by the same principles that apply to the compensation of an agent.

Question 11

An employee is hired to work under the control of the employer and the employer-employee relationship requires the consent of both parties.

Question 12

Employment law is based on a combination of contract law and the law established by courts, lawmakers, and administrative agencies.

Question 13

If an employment contract provides that an employee can be fired only for "good cause" or "just cause," a lesser standard for discharge such as the employment-at-will doctrine will not be allowed by a court.

Question 14

Subject to statutory restrictions, parties are free to make an employment contract on any terms that they wish.

Question 15

In older cases, the employer-employee relationship was referred to as the master-servant relationship.

Question 16

An agreement by an employee to refrain from disclosing trade secrets is binding.

Question 17

Former employees who are competing with their former employer may be enjoined from using information about suppliers and customers that they obtained while employees, even if this information is not of vital importance to the employer's business.

Question 18

Collective bargaining contracts govern the rights of employers and employees only in public sectors of employment.

Question 19

The duties of an employee are determined primarily by the contract of employment with the employer.

Question 20

The sole issue addressed in the Fair Labor Standards Act is child labor.

Question 21

What is the primary function of the National Labor Relations Board?

A) to mediate labor-management disputes
B) to decide unfair labor practice cases brought before it by the general counsel
C) to promulgate binding regulations defining unfair labor practices
D) to uphold the right of employees to bargain collectively

Question 22

"Permissive" subjects of bargaining include seniority provisions, promotions, layoff and recall provisions, no-strike no-lockout clauses, and grievance procedures.

Question 23

Under the common law, an employer is under a duty to furnish an employee with a sufficient number of competent fellow employees for the work involved.

Question 24

An employee has the same status as:

A) an agent.
B) an independent contractor.
C) an employer.
D) none of the above.

Question 25

Under collective bargaining:

A) groups of employers meet to draw up contracts for all of their employees.
B) representatives of the employees bargain with a single employer or a group of employers for an agreement on wages, hours, and working conditions for the employees.
C) groups of employees meet to dictate the terms of employment to their employers.
D) none of the above.

Question 26

An employer may be justified in discharging an employee because of the employee's:

A) nonperformance of duties.
B) incompetency.
C) serious misconduct.
D) all of the above.

Question 27

"Right-to-know" laws in some states guarantee employees the right to know if there are hazardous substances in their workplaces.

Question 28

If a prospective employee with a "foreign accent" offers a driver's license and a Social Security card to verify employment eligibility in the United States but the employer requires a certificate of U.S. citizenship or a "green card" instead, the employer has committed an unfair immigration practice.

Question 29

The rights of an employee to be compensated are governed primarily by the same principles that apply to the compensation of a(n):

A) partner.
B) stockholder.
C) agent.
D) court-appointed trustee.

Question 30

In the absence of an express or implied agreement to the contrary, the inventions of an employee belong to:

A) the employer.
B) the employee.
C) the employer, if the time and the property of the employer is involved.
D) none of the above.

Question 31

Vesting refers to the ability of an employer to reclaim all of the funds it may have paid into a former employee's retirement fund upon that employee's decision to resign.

Question 32

The Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) sets forth criminal and civil penalties against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

Question 33

ERISA requires that employers make contributions to their pension funds on a basis that is actuarially determined so that the pension fund will be large enough to make the payments that will be required of it.

Question 34

Which of the following is a permissive subject of bargaining as opposed to a mandatory subject of bargaining?

A) wages
B) hours
C) benefits for already retired workers
D) no-strike no-lockout clauses

Question 35

When an employer has a contract with an employee for the employee to work for a set period of time, which of the following would not justify discharging the employee?

A) financial hardship of the employer
B) nonperformance of duties by the employee
C) theft by the employee
D) possession of drugs by the employee

Question 36

Any adversely affected person may challenge the validity of an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard in a U.S. Court of Appeals.

Question 37

An employment contract of indefinite duration is:

A) terminable at will.
B) invalid.
C) automatically terminated after five years.
D) terminable only for good cause.

Question 38

Workers' compensation statutes provide the exclusive remedy for employees who are covered by such statutes and who suffer job-related injuries.

Question 39

Only the Secretary of Labor can bring court actions to enforce the provisions of ERISA.

Question 40

Which of the following categories of individuals are exempt from the minimum wage provisions of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?

A) executives
B) factory workers
C) full-time babysitters
D) housekeepers

Question 41

The federal-state system that provides unemployment compensation under the Social Security Act of 1935 excludes all of the following categories of employees except:

A) agricultural employees.
B) domestic employees.
C) state and local government employees.
D) all of the above are excluded from coverage.

Question 42

Under which circumstance will an employee not be entitled to Workers' Compensation benefits for an on-the-job injury?

A) an injury that is the result of an employee's own negligence
B) an injury that is the result of an employee's own gross negligence
C) an injury that is caused by a fellow employee
D) an injury that is the result of an employee's intoxication

Question 43

Algonquin Industries was a small business that hired mostly recent immigrants to the United States and paid them a minimum wage. The business prospered and people began to come around to organize the workers into a union. Officials of Algonquin spoke against the advisability of joining the union. Finally, a date for a certification vote was set. In the days leading up to the vote, Algonquin officials began to intimate that those workers who voted against the union would receive overtime opportunities "as they became available." A charge has been brought that this is an unfair labor practice. Decide.

Question 44

Workers' compensation statutes do not typically provide for:

A) immediate medical benefits.
B) prompt periodic wage replacement.
C) a death benefit.
D) punitive damages.

Question 45

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) sets forth what types of penalties against employers who knowingly hire aliens who have illegally entered the United States?

A) criminal
B) civil
C) criminal and civil
D) none of the above, since the exclusive focus of the IRCA is to punish individual aliens who have illegally entered the United States

Question 46

The Federal __________ Act makes it unlawful to intercept oral and electronic communications and provides for __________ against the violator.

A) Wiretapping; civil damages
B) Wiretapping; criminal liability and civil damages
C) Homeland Security; civil damages
D) Homeland Security; criminal liability and civil damages

Question 47

The right of an employee to pension benefits paid into a pension plan in the employee's name by the employer is referred to by the term:

A) venue.
B) accrual.
C) vesting.
D) investing.

Question 48

ERISA establishes an insurance plan to protect employees when the employer goes out of business. To provide this protection, the statute created a:

A) pension surety system.
B) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
C) Pension Accrual Compensation System.
D) bond system of payment.

Question 49

Joe Swartz, an employee of Acme Company, worked for months during company time and used Acme's equipment to develop an idea that he had been nurturing. Finally, the idea came to fruition. Swartz's employer laid claim to the invention on the grounds that the firm's equipment had been utilized on company time. Swartz had obtained a patent on the invention and claimed that his employer had no rights to the invention at all. Who is right? How could an employer guard against such arguments in the future?

Question 50

A dispute arose in a small factory and the workers decided to strike concerning the firing of an employee for union-organizing activity. As the strike wore on without resolution, the employer hired what the employer called permanent replacements for the strikers. Eventually, the strike was settled. Are the fired workers entitled to getting their jobs back?

Question 51

Employers are required to maintain records of certain occupational illnesses and injuries by:

A) ECHO.
B) ESCHA.
C) OSHA.
D) ECOT.

Question 52

Unemployment compensation benefits probably will be denied:

A) when an employee's theft of property results in termination.
B) to full-time students.
C) when an employee quits a job without cause.
D) all of the above.

Question 53

To be eligible for FMLA leave, an employee must have been employed by a covered employer for at least __________ months and have worked at least __________ hours during the 12-month period preceding the leave.

A) 6; 1,250
B) 6; 1,500
C) 12; 1,250
D) 12; 1,500