Chapter 12, 13, 14, 16 Test 4 – Flashcards

TRUE A labor union whose members all have a particular skill or occupation are known as craft unions. Craft unions are often responsible for training their members through apprenticeships and for supplying craft workers to employers. A craft union's bargaining power depends greatly on its control over the supply of its workers.

FALSE A union steward is an employee elected by union members to represent them in ensuring that the terms of the labor contract are enforced.

FALSE Services industries such as finance, insurance, and real estate have lower union representation than manufacturing.

TRUE Unlike union membership for workers in businesses, union membership among government workers has remained strong. Union membership in the public sector grew during the 1960s and 1970s and has remained steady ever since.

TRUE Although there is evidence that unions have both positive and negative effects on productivity, most studies have found that union workers are more productive than nonunion workers

FALSE Managers continue to prefer to keep the organization's operations flexible, so they can adjust activities to meet competitive challenges and customer demands. Therefore, in their labor relations managers prefer to limit increases in wages and benefits and to retain as much control as they can over work rules and schedules.

FALSE Under a checkoff provision, the employer, on behalf of the union, automatically deducts union dues from employees' paychecks.

TRUE Originally, the NLRA did not list any unfair labor practices by unions. In later amendments to the NLRA—the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 and the Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959—Congress established some restrictions on union practices deemed unfair to employers and union members.

FALSE Right-to-work laws are state laws that make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal. The idea behind such laws is that requiring union membership or the payment of union dues restricts the employees' right to freedom of association.

FALSE Associate union membership is not linked to an employee's workplace and does not provide representation in collective bargaining.

FALSE Mediation is a conflict resolution procedure in which a mediator hears the views of both sides and facilitates the negotiation process but has no formal authority to dictate a resolution. It is the least formal and most widely used of these procedures. A mediator hears the views of both sides and facilitates the negotiation process. The mediator has no formal authority to dictate a resolution, so a strike remains a possibility.

TRUE If a grievance reaches arbitration, the arbitrator makes the final ruling in the matter. Based on a series of Supreme Court decisions, courts generally avoid reviewing arbitrators' decisions and focus only on whether the grievance involved an issue that is subject to arbitration under the contract.

TRUE Under the National Labor Relations Act, the union has a duty of fair representation, which means the union must give equal representation to all members of the bargaining unit, whether or not they actually belong to the union.

E. labor unions. Labor unions are organizations formed for the purpose of representing their members' interests and resolving conflicts with employers.

D. It is the field that emphasizes skills that managers and union leaders can use to minimize costly forms of conflict and seek win-win solutions to disagreements.

B. Formulating labor relations strategy For management, the decision pertaining to labor relations strategy involves whether the organization will work with unions or develop (or maintain) nonunion operations. For unions, the decision involves whether to fight changes in how unions relate to the organization or accept new kinds of labor-management relationships.

A. Administering contracts Decisions regarding administering of contracts involve day-to-day activities in which union members and the organization's managers may have disagreements. Issues include complaints of work rules being violated or workers being treated unfairly in particular situations. A formal grievance procedure is typically used to resolve these issues.

C. craft Unions may be either craft or industrial unions. The members of a craft union all have a particular skill or occupation. Examples include the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for electricians and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America for carpenters.

D. It is often responsible for training members through apprenticeships. The members of a craft union all have a particular skill or occupation. Craft unions are often responsible for training their members through apprenticeships and for supplying craft workers to employers.

D. his union steward. Most of workers' contact in a local union is with the union steward, an employee elected by union members to represent them in ensuring that the terms of the contract are enforced. The union steward helps to investigate complaints and represents employees to supervisors and other managers when employees file grievances alleging contract violations.

E. represents employees when they file grievances alleging contract violations. Most of workers' contact in a local union is with the union steward, an employee elected by union members to represent them in ensuring that the terms of the contract are enforced. The union steward helps to investigate complaints and represents employees to supervisors and other managers. When the union deals with several employers, as in the case of a craft union, a business representative performs some of the same functions as a union steward.

C. Management efforts to control costs in response to international competition On average, unionized workers receive higher pay than their nonunionized counterparts, and the pressure to control costs is greater because of international competition, resulting in a steady decline in union membership.

A. In Western Europe, it is common to have union coverage rates of 80 to 90 percent. The percentage of U.S. workers who belong to unions is lower than in many other countries. More dramatic is the difference in coverage—the percentage of employees whose terms and conditions of employment are governed by a union contract, whether or not the employees are technically union members. In Western Europe, it is common to have coverage rates of 80 to 90 percent, so the influence of labor unions far outstrips what membership levels would imply

E. Unions focus on equal pay for equal work. Unlike management, which tries to consider employees as individuals so that pay and promotion decisions relate to performance differences, unions try to build group solidarity and avoid possible arbitrary treatment of employees. To do so, unions focus on equal pay for equal work. They try to have any pay differences based on seniority, on the grounds that this measure is more objective than performance evaluations.

A. checkoff provision. Under a checkoff provision, the employer, on behalf of the union, automatically deducts union dues from employees' paychecks.

C. closed shop The strongest union security arrangement is a closed shop, under which a person must be a union member before being hired. Under the National Labor Relations Act, closed shops are illegal.

B. Union shop A legal membership arrangement that supports the goals of labor unions is the union shop, an arrangement that requires an employee to join the union within a certain time (30 days) after beginning employment.

A. Agency shop The agency shop is a union security arrangement which requires the payment of union dues but not union membership.

D. Maintenance of membership Maintenance of membership rules do not require union membership but do require that employees who join the union remain members for a certain period of time, such as the length of the contract.

A. To ensure that workers have a voice in how they are treated by their employers Society's goal for unions is to ensure that workers have a voice in how they are treated by their employers.

C. The Wagner Act Perhaps the most dramatic example of labor laws' influence is the 1935 passage of the Wagner Act (also known as the National Labor Relations Act, or NLRA ), which actively supported collective bargaining.

E. A worker going out on strike to secure better working conditions The following activities are among those protected under the NLRA: union organizing, joining a union, whether recognized by the employer or not, going out on strike to secure better working conditions, refraining from activity on behalf of the union

A. The Taft-Hartley Act The Taft-Hartley Act allows the states to pass so-called right-to-work laws, which make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal. The idea behind such laws is that requiring union membership or the payment of union dues restricts the employees' right to freedom of association.

B. state laws that make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal. The Taft-Hartley Act allows the states to pass so-called right-to-work laws, which make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal. The idea behind such laws is that requiring union membership or the payment of union dues restricts the employees' right to freedom of association.

B. conduct and certify representation elections. The NLRB has two major functions: to conduct and certify representation elections and to prevent unfair labor practices. It does not initiate either of these actions but responds to requests for action.

A. 30 percent At the start of an organizing process, union representatives make contact with employees, present their message about the union, and invite them to sign an authorization card. For the organization process to continue, at least 30 percent of the employees must sign an authorization card.

E. Report any direct or indirect signs of union activity to a core management group In order to discourage unions, supervisors should report any direct or indirect signs of union activity to a core management group.

A. final-offer In "final-offer arbitration," the arbitrator must choose either management's or the union's final offer for each issue or for the contract as a whole.

C. grievance procedure Contract administration includes carrying out the terms of the agreement and resolving conflicts over interpretation or violation of the agreement. Under a labor contract, the process for resolving these conflicts is called a grievance procedure. This procedure has a key influence on success in contract administration.

D. Employee discusses problem with supervisor. For grievances launched by an employee, in the first step, the employee talks to his or her supervisor about the problem. If this conversation is unsatisfactory, the employee may involve the union steward in further discussion.

A. getting fair treatment in the workplace. From the point of view of employees, the grievance procedure is an important means of getting fair treatment in the workplace. Its success depends on whether it provides for all the kinds of problems that are likely to arise, whether employees feel they can file a grievance without being punished for it, and whether employees believe their union representatives will follow through.

TRUE Benefits packages are more complex than pay structures, so benefits are harder for employees to understand and appreciate.

FALSE Tax laws can make benefits favorable to employees.

TRUE Some employers assemble creative benefits packages that set them apart in the competition for talent.

FALSE The Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance (OASDHI) program covers over 90 percent of U.S. employees. The main exceptions are railroad and federal, state, and local government employees, who often have their own plans.

FALSE Social Security benefits are free from federal income taxes and free from state taxes in about half the states.

FALSE Workers' compensation laws operate under a principle of no-fault liability, meaning that an employee does not need to show that the employer was grossly negligent in order to receive compensation, and the employer is protected from lawsuits. Employees are not eligible if their injuries are self-inflicted or if they result from intoxication or "wilful disregard of safety rules."

TRUE The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 requires organizations with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius to provide as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave after childbirth or adoption; to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent, for an employee's own serious illness; or to take care of urgent needs that arise when a spouse, child, or parent in the National Guard or Reserve is called to active duty.

FALSE Benefits provided to domestic partners do not have the same tax advantages as benefits provided to spouses. The partner's benefits are taxed as wages of the employee receiving the benefits.

FALSE The most common types of insurance offered as employee benefits are medical, life, and disability insurance. The U.S. government will require medium-sized and large businesses to offer health insurance or pay a penalty beginning in 2014.

TRUE Employees are most likely to benefit from a flexible spending account if they have predictable health care expenses, such as insurance premiums.

FALSE Disability payments are a percentage of the employee's salary—typically 50 to 70 percent.

TRUE Employees whose contributions are vested have met the requirements (enrolling and length of service) to receive a pension at retirement age, regardless of whether they remained with the employer until that time.

FALSE To encourage learning and attract the kinds of employees who wish to develop their knowledge and skills, many organizations offer tuition reimbursement programs, which cover tuition and related expenses for courses that are relevant to the employee's current job or future career at the organization.

FALSE The ADEA requires employers to take care not to discriminate against workers over age 40 in providing pay or benefits. Under the ADA, employees with disabilities must have "equal access to whatever health insurance coverage the employer provides other employees."

C. Employees do not pay income taxes on most benefits they receive. Tax laws can make benefits favorable to employees. For example, employees do not pay income taxes on most benefits they receive, but they pay income taxes on cash compensation

D. Social Security This important role of benefits is one reason that benefits are subject to government regulation. Some benefits, such as Social Security, are required by law.

C. retired workers In general, Social Security provides support for retired workers.

D. Workers' compensation Workers' compensation laws help workers with the expenses resulting from job-related accidents and illnesses.

C. Unpaid family and medical leave Employers must provide unpaid leave for certain family and medical needs. Because these benefits are required by law, employers cannot gain an advantage in the labor market.

C. Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance program If employees elect to begin receiving benefits at full retirement age (which rises with birth year), they can receive full benefits, or if they elect to begin receiving benefits at age 62, they receive benefits at a permanently reduced level.

B. Unemployment insurance Most of the funding for unemployment insurance comes from federal and state taxes on employers.

B. employers only. Most of the funding for unemployment insurance comes from federal and state taxes on employers.

C. experience rating The employer's experience rating refers to the number of employees the company laid off in the past and the cost of providing them with unemployment benefits.

D. are actively seeking work. To receive benefits, workers must meet four conditions. They must meet requirements demonstrating they had been employed. They are available for work. They are actively seeking work. They were not discharged for cause, did not quit voluntarily, and are not out of work because of a labor dispute.

E. The benefits provided to the workers are not taxable. The amount of income varies from state to state but is typically two-thirds of the worker's earnings before the disability. The benefits are tax free.

E. the state where the company is located. The cost of the workers' compensation insurance depends on the kinds of occupations involved, the state where the company is located, and the employer's experience rating.

A. Should be working for an employer with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius Specifically, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 requires organizations with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius to provide as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave after childbirth or adoption, to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent, for an employee's own serious illness, or to take care of urgent needs that arise when a spouse, child, or parent in the National Guard or Reserve is called to active duty.

B. offer disability plans to treat pregnancy as they would any other disability. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 requires employers to offer disability plans to treat pregnancy as they would any other disability.

D. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) of 1985 requires employers to permit employees to extend their health insurance coverage at group rates for up to 36 months following a "qualifying event." Qualifying events include termination (except for gross misconduct), a reduction in hours that leads to loss of health insurance, and the employee's death (in which case the surviving spouse or dependent child would extend the coverage).

D. Funds must be used by the plan's year end or they revert to the employer. The money in the account may be spent on health care expenses of the employee and employee's dependents during the plan year. At the end of the year, any remaining funds in the account revert to the employer.

A. Social Security Despite the image of retired people living on their Social Security check shows that those checks amount to less than half of a retired person's income.

A. The act established certain rights related to vesting. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 increased the responsibility of pension plan trustees to protect retirees, established certain rights related to vesting (earning a right to receive the pension) and portability (being able to move retirement savings when changing employers).

B. Section 401(k) plans. Under the section 401(k) plans, employees contribute a percentage of their earnings, and employers may make matching contributions. The amount employees contribute is not taxed as part of their income until they receive it from the plan.

A. The employee The defined-contribution plans, including the 401(k) plan, free employers from the risks that investments will not perform as well as expected. They put the responsibility for wise investing squarely on the shoulders of each employee.

E. summary plan description The summary plan description is a report that describes the plan's funding, eligibility requirements, risks, and other details.

A. The Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service strictly limits the definition of "independent contractors," so that employers cannot avoid legal obligations by classifying workers as self-employed when the organization receives the benefits of a permanent employee.

B. Employees significantly underestimate the cost and value of their benefits. Employees and job applicants often have a poor idea of what benefits they have and what the market value of their benefits is. Research asking employees about their benefits has shown that employees significantly underestimate the cost and value of their benefits.

The unemployment insurance program was established under the Social Security Act of 1935. This program has four objectives related to minimizing the hardships of unemployment. 1) It provides payments to offset lost income during involuntary unemployment. 2) It helps unemployed workers find new jobs. 3) The payment of unemployment insurance taxes gives employers an incentive to stabilize employment. 4) It provides workers with income during short-term layoffs to preserve investments in worker skills because workers can afford to wait to return to their employer, rather than start over with another organization. Most of the funding for unemployment insurance comes from federal and state taxes on employers. Some states charge new employers whatever rate is the average for their industry, so the amount of tax paid in those states also depends on the type of business. No state imposes the same tax rate on every employer in the state. The size of the unemployment insurance tax imposed on each employer depends on the employer's experience rating—the number of employees the company laid off in the past and the cost of providing them with unemployment benefits. Employers with a history of laying off a large share of their workforces pay higher taxes than those with few layoffs. In some states, an employer with very few layoffs may pay no state tax.

As employers have recognized the significance of employees' need to manage conflicts between their work and family roles many have added "family-friendly" benefits to their employee benefits. These benefits include family leave policies and child care. The following types of benefits are typical: 1) Family leave—Family or parental leave grants employees time off to care for children and other dependents. The federal law requires 12 weeks of unpaid leave. 2) Child care—Child care benefits may take several forms, requiring different levels of organizational involvement. The lowest level of involvement is for the organization to supply and help employees collect information about the cost and quality of available child care. At the next level, organizations provide vouchers or discounts for employees to use at existing child care facilities. At the highest level of involvement, the employer provides child care at or near the work site. Staffing a child care facility is costly and involves important liability concerns. At the same time, the results of this type of benefit, in terms of reducing absenteeism and enhancing productivity, have been mixed. 3) College savings—As workers' children grow up, their needs shift from maternity leave and child care to college tuition. Some organizations have supported this concern by sponsoring tax-favored 529 savings plans. These plans let parents and other family members defer taxes on the earnings of their deposits into the 529 account. Some states also provide a (limited) tax deduction for these contributions. 4) Elder care—As the population of the nation's elderly grows, so do the demands on adult children to care for elderly parents, aunts, and uncles. When these people become ill or disabled, they rely on family or professional caregivers. The elder care benefits typically emphasize information and support, rather than direct financial assistance.

FALSE Outcomes of a high-performance work system include higher productivity and efficiency. A high-performance work system may have other outcomes, including high product quality, great customer satisfaction, and low employee turnover.

FALSE Knowledge is shared. Therefore, to create a learning organization, one challenge is to shift the focus of training away from merely teaching skills and toward a broader focus on generating and sharing knowledge.

TRUE People experience occupational intimacy when they love their work, when they and their co-workers care about one another, and when they find their work meaningful.

TRUE A standard feature of a modern HRIS is the use of relational databases, which store data in separate files that can be linked by common elements. These common elements are fields identifying the type of data.

TRUE A benefit of e-HRM is that employees can help themselves to the information they need when they need it, instead of contacting an HR staff person.

B. the right combination of people, technology, and organizational structure that makes full use of the organization's resources and opportunities in achieving its goals. A high-performance work system refers to the right combination of people, technology, and organizational structure that makes full use of the organization's resources and opportunities in achieving its goals.

B. Organizational structure Organizational structure is the way the organization groups its people into useful divisions, departments, and reporting relationships.

A. top management The organization's top management makes most decisions about structure, for instance, how many employees report to each supervisor and whether employees are grouped according to the functions they carry out or the customers they serve.

D. efficient while encouraging high quality. Task design determines how the details of the organization's necessary activities will be grouped, whether into jobs or team responsibilities. In a high-performance work system, task design makes jobs efficient while encouraging high quality.

A. Employees' rewards and compensation relate to the company's financial performance. Certain conditions underlie the formation of a high-performance work system. Employees' rewards and compensation relate to the company's financial performance.

B. design work so that it is performed by teams. One of the most popular ways to empower employees is to design work so that it is performed by teams. On a work team, employees bring together various skills and experiences to produce goods or provide services.

A. continuous learning. Continuous learning refers to each employee's and each group's ongoing efforts to gather information and apply the information to their decisions.

B. Psychological test High-performance organizations need selection methods that identify more than technical skills like ability to perform accounting and engineering tasks. Employers may use group interviews, open-ended questions, and psychological tests to find employees who innovate, share ideas, and take initiative.

E. linking compensation to performance measures. Organizations can reinforce the impact of a performance management system which encourages high performance by linking compensation in part to performance measures. There are a number of methods for doing this, including merit pay, gainsharing, and profit sharing

B. social media As Internet use has increasingly taken the form of social-media applications, e-HRM has moved in this direction as well. Generally speaking, social media bring networks of people together to collaborate on projects, solve problems, or socialize.

A high-performance work system is the right combination of people, technology, and organizational structure that makes full use of an organization's resources and opportunities in achieving its goals. Common elements of such a system include (1) organizational structure, (2) task design, (3) people, (4) reward systems, and (5) information systems. Human resource management plays an important role in establishing all of these. 1) Organizational structure refers to the way the organization groups its people into divisions, departments, and reporting relationships. The organization's top management makes most decisions about structure, and these decisions affect how well employees coordinate their activities and respond to change. In a high-performance work system, organizational structure promotes cooperation, learning, and continuous improvement. 2) Task design involves determining how the details of the organization's activities will be grouped into jobs or team responsibilities. In a high-performance work system, task design makes jobs efficient while encouraging high quality. 3) HRM plays a significant role in providing people who are well suited and well prepared for their jobs. Human resource personnel help the organization recruit and select people with the needed qualifications. Training, development, and career management ensure that these people are able to perform their current and future jobs with the organization. 4) Reward systems contribute to high performance by encouraging people to strive for objectives that support the organization's overall goals. These systems include the performance measures by which employees are judged, the methods of measuring performance, and the incentive pay and other rewards linked to success. HRM plays an important role in developing and administering reward systems. 5) The final element is the organization's information systems. Managers make decisions about the types of information to gather and the sources of information. They also must decide who in the organization should have access to the information and how they will make the information available. HR departments take advantage of this technology to give employees