Deck 10: Employee Benefits and Services

Question 1

Legally required benefits and services are important because they ensure that minimum levels of financial security are provided to the workforce.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Employers in industries with similar hazards are collectively liable for payment to workers employed in that group who suffer accidental personal injury on the job.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Employees usually seek employer-provided benefits and services because they cost less.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The value of benefits and services has gone up over time relative to direct pay.

Question 5

Employment Insurance is designed to alleviate monetary problems when people are in transition from one job to another.

Question 6

All legally required employee benefits and services fall under federal legislation.

Question 7

Benefits and services are not concerned with organizational objectives.

Question 8

Minimum-wage acts ensure fair remuneration for workers.

Question 9

An employee making an annual salary of $50,000 will actually cost the organization $100,000 in expenses for the company.

Question 10

Employees with pre-existing medical conditions seek employer-provided benefits because the policies are sometimes unattainable otherwise.

Question 11

Employment insurance is an voluntary benefit that can be included in compensation packages at the employer's discretion.

Question 12

Legally required benefits and services are important to the human resource department because mishandling these obligations can result in severe fines and more taxes.

Question 13

The Canada Pension Plan is a contributory benefit plan because employers pay all of the costs.

Question 14

Benefits will one day replace performance incentives as motivators.

Question 15

Through favourable tax treatment, employees can receive most benefits tax-free.

Question 16

Benefit programs make insignificant contributions to attracting and retaining key employees.

Question 17

Self-employed people are unable to register for employment insurance.

Question 18

Employee benefits and services seek to satisfy societal, organizational, and employee objectives.

Question 19

Portability clauses allow accumulated pension rights to be transferred to another employer when an employee changes jobs.

Question 20

The Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, and Workers' Compensation Acts are all examples of legally required indirect compensation policies.

Question 21

An employer-sponsored softball team and employee can be part of an indirect compensation program.

Question 22

Personal leave days allow an employee to skip work for any reason and get paid.

Question 23

Offering concierge services as part of employee benefit packages is becoming more common.

Question 24

One newer benefit that has become available in flexible benefit programs is the ability to buy or sell vacation time.

Question 25

Offering employee discount plans is a new trend in organizations today.

Question 26

Voluntary non-insurance benefits seek to ensure an income before and after retirement.

Question 27

Including services to lessen problems associated with substance abuse in an employee assistance program is illegal in Canada.

Question 28

Benefit audits readily identify inefficiencies in the administration of benefit plans.

Question 29

Long-term disability insurance provides income to workers who are disabled for a prolonged period of time, usually at 50 or 60 percent of their working income.

Question 30

Both provincial and federal governments regulate holidays and vacations.

Question 31

Comparing the company's benefits with those of the competition is one step a company can take to ensure it meets its long-term objectives.

Question 32

Retirement plans have grown in scope and coverage due to union demands.

Question 33

The Pension Benefits Standards Act regulates pension plans in industries under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada.

Question 34

Employee benefits and services are growing at twice the pace of wages and salaries.

Question 35

Offering group legal services as part of a flexible benefits program is an emerging trend in organizations today.

Question 36

Benefit audits enable an employer to compare its employee claiming habits against other Canadian employers.

Question 37

A defined contribution plan pays a benefit based on a formula made up of age and length or service.

Question 38

Vesting means that an employee will lose all rights to collect pension benefits should they leave the company before their official retirement date.

Question 39

Canada's health and medical insurance is provided by the federal government with assistance from the provincial governments.

Question 40

Time-off benefits include legal and voluntary benefits.

Question 41

Employers should do which of the following to keep ballooning benefit costs under control?

A) introduce separate maximums for each paramedical service
B) provide out-of-country medical coverage for personal travel
C) ensure coverage across all benefit domains
D) encourage employees to seek one month of prescription refills at a time
E) introduce a health care spending account

Question 42

Benefits and services give many employees financial security against which of the following?

A) layoffs
B) unfair labour practices
C) dismissal
D) wage compression
E) disability

Question 43

Generally, GST/HST has to be paid on which of the following employee benefits?

A) child care
B) tuition fees
C) health benefits
D) car operating costs
E) awards

Question 44

Which of the following challenges has often lead employees to pressure employers for more benefits to meet their needs?

A) the lack of understanding about the mix of benefits offered through benefit packages
B) the increase complexity associated with administering benefits packages
C) the constant legal review of retirement plans
D) the increased complexity of benefit packages due to tax reforms
E) the changes to health care policies and expenses

Question 45

Which of the following gives workers the right to pension benefits after a specified number of years, even if they leave the company?

A) financial security
B) employment insurance
C) vesting
D) portability clauses
E) workers' compensation

Question 46

Innovative and flexible benefit plans are effective tools in attracting and retaining skilled staff.

Question 47

Which of the following is a legally required and provincially governed benefit that provides financial protection for workers?

A) family allowances
B) health insurance plans
C) Canada Pension Plan
D) insurance benefits
E) income security benefits

Question 48

Which of the following is a legal provision that helps alleviate financial problems during a transition from one job to another?

A) workers' compensation acts
B) employment insurance
C) the Canada pension plan
D) portability clauses
E) minimum wage acts

Question 49

Which of the following is a legally required benefit that employers must provide to employees?

A) paid sick leave
B) vacation entitlement
C) defined benefit plans
D) employment income security
E) defined contribution plans

Question 50

Employee benefits and services seek to satisfy which of the following objectives?

A) legal
B) economic
C) societal
D) demographic
E) technology

Question 51

Integrating which of the following into the compensation package could help organizations achieve the long-term goal of retaining good employees?

A) merit pay
B) commissions
C) a profit-sharing plan
D) a piecework incentive
E) spot awards

Question 52

According to the Pension Benefits Standards Act, which of the following can fund a private pension plan?

A) the employer
B) a labour organization
C) the employee
D) an insurance company
E) a union

Question 53

GST needs to be paid on child care benefits.

Question 54

Contributions to noncontributory Defined Contribution (DC) Plans are made by which of the following?

A) paycheque deductions from all workers in Canada
B) individual employers
C) the federal government
D) all employers in a given sector
E) the individual employee

Question 55

Acts entitling workers to some form of compensation in the event of personal workplace-related injury exist where?

A) in all provinces except Quebec
B) in all ten provinces but not in the three territories
C) in all ten provinces and all the territories
D) only in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland
E) in none of the provinces

Question 56

Which of the following is an example of an emerging trend in terms of the services offered by benefit plans?

A) vision care
B) life insurance
C) prescription drug coverage
D) long-term disability insurance
E) employee wellness accounts

Question 57

Which of the following describes the Canada Pension Plan?

A) a contributory plan that is mandatory for all self-employed persons and employees in Canada
B) a plan whereby retirees receive a fixed dollar amount from their employer as a pension
C) a plan whose benefits are defined by a formula based on age and length of service
D) a pension plan that pays retirees a regular income based on investments in secure funds
E) a plan that only returns their pension contributions if the employee leaves the organization before the vesting period passes.

Question 58

Legally required health insurance plans refer to which of the following?

A) crediting employees with a number of sick days for nonoccupational accidents
B) specifying a limited number of days that employees are allowed to skip work
C) the health and medical insurance provided by provincial and federal governments
D) giving employees a break from the physical and mental efforts of a job
E) assisting employees with personal problems

Question 59

Which of the following allows employees to shop for specific benefits and services from among those offered by the employer using an account that has a specific amount of money in it?

A) health spending accounts
B) wellness accounts
C) concierge services
D) flexible benefit programs
E) employment insurance

Question 60

Which of the following uses two components to identify inefficiencies in benefit programs?

A) a human resources audit
B) a benefit audit
C) a claims audit
D) an organizational audit
E) a diversity and inclusion audit

Question 61

Flexible benefit programs are also known as which of the following?

A) blended benefit programs
B) cafeteria benefit programs
C) optional benefit programs
D) equity benefit programs
E) selective benefit programs

Question 62

Pension rights under the Canada Pension Plan are __________, meaning that they are not affected by changes of job or residence.

A) collective
B) voluntary
C) portable
D) contributory
E) flexible

Question 63

Which of the following is the main advantage of using flexible benefit programs?

A) an increase in employee participation
B) discouraged labour unrest
C) reduced turnover
D) they aid recruitment
E) they reduce administrative costs

Question 64

With the exception of Saskatchewan, federal and provincial laws specify an annual minimum vacation entitlement of __________ for employees with less than 5 years of employment with the company.

A) one week
B) ten days
C) three weeks
D) two weeks
E) four weeks

Question 65

Voluntary employee insurance benefits can include which of the following benefits?

A) supplemental unemployment benefits
B) defined contribution plans
C) short-term disability plans
D) paid sick leave
E) financial services

Question 66

A benefit audit enables employers to do which of the following?

A) ensure timely compliance with legal requirements
B) enhance the processional image of the department among various stakeholders
C) reduce costs
D) uncover solutions to critical problems
E) ensure that insurers are doing a good job

Question 67

Health and pension benefits can make a great difference in corporate loyalty, especially for which of the following employees?

A) older employees
B) part-time employees
C) employees with pre-existing medical conditions
D) temporary employees
E) high-performing employees

Question 68

Which of the following aims to help employees and their family members overcome personal and work-related problems?

A) health insurance plan
B) employment insurance programs
C) short-term disability plans
D) employee assistance programs
E) income security benefits

Question 69

Which of the following is a remedy for problems associated with poorly understood benefit packages?

A) including employee services compensation packages
B) providing vacation time
C) making pension contributions
D) offering payroll deductions
E) publicizing benefits

Question 70

Which of the following is a legally required insurance benefit offered to employees?

A) paramedical expense coverage
B) health insurance plans
C) travel insurance
D) Short-term disability plans
E) life insurance

Question 71

Benefits that employers gain from indirect compensation usually include:

A) more turnover
B) more overtime costs
C) more labour unrest
D) more successful recruitment efforts
E) more worker fatigue

Question 72

Which of the following is described as payment to a worker upon permanent separation from an employer?

A) a supplemental unemployment benefit
B) an employment assistance program
C) a paid time-off benefit
D) severance pay
E) a financial service

Question 73

According to workers' compensation acts, who is liable for payment of compensation to workers in the event of accidental personal injury on the job?

A) Individual workers surrounded by the same types of hazards
B) the federal government
C) the provincial government
D) individual employers
E) employers classified in the same group due to the presence of similar hazards

Question 74

Which of the following is an outcome associated with using flexible benefit programs?

A) lower administrative costs
B) lower employee participation
C) less obligation for the human resource department to advise employees
D) less employee confusion about what benefits are offered
E) less involvement by the human resource department

Question 75

Benefits and services are referred to as indirect compensation for which of the following reasons?

A) they are based on critical job factors or performance
B) they do not appear on employees' paycheques
C) they strive to achieve internal equity with no monetary reward
D) they are usually extended as a condition of employment rather than directly related to performance
E) they can extend to other family members

Question 76

Which of the following is an objective that organizations seek to satisfy through offering employee benefits and services?

A) access benefits that would be inaccessible without employer-provided insurance
B) gain benefits and services at a low rate
C) receiving tax-free benefits
D) reduce employee fatigue
E) deduct the cost of benefits as a business expense

Question 77

Which of the following programs would assist an employee in a job-related move?

A) relocation programs
B) workers' compensation acts
C) employee discount plans
D) a retention program
E) employment insurance programs

Question 78

Workers' Compensation Acts are administered by:

A) employers
B) employees' unions
C) the federal government
D) private certified outside agencies
E) the provincial governments of each province

Question 79

Which of the following is an objective that employees seek to satisfy through accessing employer-provided benefits and services?

A) minimize overtime costs
B) reduce employee fatigue
C) gain benefits and services at a low rate
D) reduce turnover
E) discourage labour unrest

Question 80

Which of the following has become a common part of flexible benefit programs?

A) long-term disability
B) life insurance
C) buying and selling vacation time
D) medical coverage
E) prescription drug coverage