Deck 8: The Workplace 1: Basic Issues

Question 1

Fair personnel policies and decisions must be based on criteria that are clear, job related, and

A) partial toward friends.
B) equally applied.
C) ignore personality.
D) minimize nepotism.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The Wagner Act of 1935

A) established the Food and Drug Administration.
B) prohibits employers from interfering with employees trying to organize unions.
C) guaranteed employers the right of refusing to bargain with union representatives.
D) guaranteed the right to work and outlawed union shops.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is an accurate statement about employment law in the workplace?

A) It's illegal to fire workers because of union membership.
B) Courts at all levels and in all states now agree that employees cannot be dismissed without just cause.
C) The civil liberties of employees have to be restricted for corporations to run efficiently.
D) More and more companies are moving toward "employment at will".

Answer 3

A

Question 4

To be successful any test used by a corporation must be

A) sound.
B) valid.
C) created outside the corporation using the test.
D) one that can be used by any organization for any position.

Question 5

Choose the factual statement concerning wages:

A) An employer's financial capabilities are irrelevant to the question of fair wages.
B) A fair wage is whatever an employee is willing to accept.
C) Extrinsic, non-job-related considerations are often relevant to setting fair wages.
D) A fair wage presupposes a fair work contract.

Question 6

Which of these is a valid reason for not hiring a potential employee?

A) The person is overqualified.
B) There's a gap in the person's unemployment history.
C) The person dresses poorly.
D) The person has a lack of experience.

Question 7

The hiring process needs to include screening, testing, and

A) safety awareness.
B) eliminating candidates.
C) interviewing.
D) job descriptions.

Question 8

Which statement is true about the hiring and employment process?

A) A job description permits employers to rely on the preferences of their customers as a reason for discriminatory employment practices.
B) A job specification describes the qualifications an employee needs, such as skills, educational experience, appearance, and physical attributes.
C) According to common law, unless there is an explicit contractual provision to the contrary, every employment is employment "at will."
D) In validating job specifications, a firm lists all pertinent details about a job, including its duties, responsibilities, working conditions, and physical requirements.

Question 9

Since Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1994,

A) all disabled persons must be hired.
B) employers must make "reasonable accommodations" for disabled workers.
C) employees must try to "undo" their disabilities.
D) employers must be careful to "screen" out disabled persons.

Question 10

Groups of 18th century skilled artisans formed secret societies for two basic reasons. Which of the following is one of those reasons?

A) to equalize their relationship with their employers
B) to distinguish themselves from carpenters and shoemakers
C) to gain control of the German government
D) to avoid having to set minimal standards for their crafts

Question 11

Austin Fagothey and Milton Gonsalves believe a direct strike is justified

A) when it is motivated by revenge.
B) when workers are coerced into striking.
C) when it is a last resort.
D) under no conditions.

Question 12

Which of the following is a correct statement about union activities?

A) A sympathetic strike occurs when workers who have no particular grievance of their own and who may or may not have the same employer decide to strike in support of others.
B) A corporate campaign occurs when people refuse to patronize companies that handle products of struck companies.
C) The 1947 Taft-Hartley Act forbids individual states from outlawing union shops.
D) Labor historians generally consider the American Federation of Labor (AFL) the first truly national trade union.

Question 13

According to David Ewing,

A) the corporate invasion of employees' civil rights is rampant.
B) sympathetic strikes ought to be made illegal.
C) employers have the right to fill the positions of striking workers with other workers.
D) seniority ought not be a factor in making transfers or promotions.

Question 14

Choose the most accurate statement concerning the workplace:

A) If wages conform with the law, they are fair wages.
B) Employers have no obligation to dismiss workers as painlessly as possible.
C) An employer's financial capabilities affect what constitutes a fair wage scale for that employer's employees.
D) All instances of nepotism raise serious moral concerns.

Question 15

Tests are designed to measure the applicants' skills in verbal, quantitative, and

A) ethical skills.
B) empathy skills.
C) logical skills.
D) social skills.

Question 16

Employers have the right to fire an employee who performs inadequately, but they should do so

A) as painlessly as possible.
B) with vengeance.
C) in a public display so all can learn.
D) in humiliation.

Question 17

Unions employ two kinds of boycotts to enforce their demands. These two kinds of boycotts are

A) positive and negative.
B) corporate and private.
C) active and passive.
D) primary and secondary.

Question 18

According to David Ewing, two factors explain the absence of civil liberties and the prevalence of authoritarianism in the workplace. Which of the following is one of them?

A) discriminatory employment practices due to strict constructionist interpretations of the Constitution
B) the rise of personnel engineering and professional management
C) the common law doctrine of eminent domain
D) employer resistance to unionization

Question 19

Griggs v. Duke Power Company, which prohibits

A) tests given to employees or applicants to have inconsistent results.
B) tests given to employees or applicants from being invalid.
C) tests given to employees or applicants from being unreliable.
D) employers from requiring a high school education as a prerequisite for employment or promotion without demonstrable evidence that the associated skills relate directly to job performance.

Question 20

According to common law, to legally dismiss an employee, an employer

A) cannot have bad motives.
B) is obligated not to discriminate.
C) must have good cause.
D) need have no reason at all.

Question 21

The Wagner Act of 1935 permitted firing workers because of union membership or union activities.

Question 22

In a handful of American cities local ordinances prohibit discrimination against those who are short or overweight.

Question 23

Inbreeding is the practice of showing favoritism to relatives and close friends.

Question 24

Of the four types of discharge, firing

A) results from an employee's poor
Performance-that is, from his or her failure to fulfill expectations.
B) is for-cause dismissal-the result of employee theft, gross insubordination, release of proprietary information, and so on.
C) usually refers to the temporary unemployment experienced by hourly employees and implies that they are "subject to recall."
D) designates the permanent elimination of a job as a result of workforce reduction, plant closing, or departmental consolidation.

Question 25

Nepotism is the practice of promoting exclusively from within the firm.

Question 26

When weighing the decisions to dismiss employees, companies need to remember that employment affects families and communities, not just individuals.

Question 27

In union terms, a direct strike occurs

A) when an organized body of workers withholds its labor to force the employer to comply with its demands.
B) when union members and their supporters refuse to buy products from a company being struck.
C) when workers who have no particular grievance of their own and who may or may not have the same employer decide to strike in support of others.
D) when people refuse to patronize companies that handle products of struck companies.

Question 28

In the interview process, the interview should avoid rudeness, coarseness, condescension, and

A) giddiness.
B) hostility.
C) sternness.
D) questions.

Question 29

The key moral ideal in promotions is

A) loyalty.
B) likeability.
C) intelligence.
D) fairness.

Question 30

Just cause requires that reasons for discipline or discharge relate directly to job performance.

Question 31

According to common law, unless there is an explicit contractual provision to the contrary, every employment is employment at will and either side is free to terminate it at any time without advance notice or reason.

Question 32

A corporate campaign occurs when an organized body of workers withholds its labor to force an employer to comply with its demands.

Question 33

The English philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626) called conscious and unconscious biases and stereotypes

A) "plagues of interviewing."
B) "idols of the mind."
C) "the best tools."
D) "mind benders."

Question 34

A job description describes the qualifications an employee needs, such as skills, educational experience, appearance, and physical attributes.

Question 35

The reliability of a test refers to the quality of exhibiting a reasonable consistency in results obtained.

Question 36

Inbreeding refers to longevity on a job or with a firm.

Question 37

Labor historians generally consider the Knights of Labor (K of L), established in 1869, as the first truly national trade union.

Question 38

Due process requires specific and systematic means for workers to appeal discharge or disciplinary decisions.

Question 39

The express purpose of a boycott is the same as a strike -- to hurt the employer and strengthen the union's bargaining position.

Question 40

It is morally right for employers to dismiss employees for any reason.

Question 41

If employees who don't join the union get the same benefits as union members, this raises a question of fairness.

Question 42

When most people fire another employee, they do it with great joy.

Question 43

Sympathetic strikes are ineffective.

Question 44

One of the chief concerns of nepotism is the disregard of managerial responsibilities to the organization and of fairness to other employees.

Question 45

A primary boycott occurs when people refuse to patronize companies that handle products of struck companies.

Question 46

An individual is usually an equal with the employer in the negotiation process.

Question 47

From the beginning, unions have been driven by an attempt to protect workers from abuses of power at the hands of employers.

Question 48

According to Shaw and Barry, a workplace environment in which employees are treated fairly and their inherent dignity respected is compatible with a firm's business goals.

Question 49

Job performance and the fairness of the work contract are relevant to the issue of fair wages.

Question 50

The express purpose of a strike is the same as that of a boycott -- to hurt the employer or company financially and strengthen the union's bargaining position.