aPHR Practice Test Questions with answers Latest Updated

Sustainable competitive advantage - Answer When an organization is able to perform an activity to a greater degree than its competitors for an extended period of time Performance Management duties - Answer Preparation and administration of appraisals Discipline Development of performance measures The most common reason for failed overseas assignments is: - Answer Choosing people who have the technical skills needed to perform the job, but who lack the necessary personality characteristics and family support A function of employee relations is: - Answer Relocation and outplacement services An organization has one HR staff person for every ____ employees - Answer 100 Definition of Development - Answer Is more long term in nature. Often includes education in philosophical and theoretical concepts Aimed at developing relationships, often for the purposes of improving leadership skills More general and non-tangible than specific Definition of Training - Answer Training is usually a short term process. Training usually requires guidance (or instruction) in a series of steps to gain a skill, or set of predictable knowledge. Often for non-leadership related activities. Aimed at a specific task or job role. Projections of the U.S. labor force - Answer The growth in the labor market of female and minority populations will exceed the growth of white non-Hispanic persons More women will be in the paid labor force than in the past and most will be working full-time The U.S. labor force will be more diverse in racial and ethnic terms than in the past The largest number of openings due to growth and replacement needs according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics is: - Answer Service The use of employee empowerment has had what effect upon recruiting? - Answer It has shifted the focus away from technical skills to general cognitive and interpersonal skills Increasingly, HR professionals are being viewed as: - Answer Strategic partners The largest number of immigrants to the U.S. workforce will come from: - Answer North America (Mexico, Canada, Central America, the Caribbean) Dot-com companies offer a dynamic, exciting HR work environment for what reasons? - Answer Their small size give HR professionals the ability to speak frequently and directly to the CEO Because of their size and numerous HR needs, HR sees its decisions implemented, quickly sees the impact on the business, and receives personal recognition for successful actions Because of the importance many HR practices play in a growing company, HR professionals are actively involved in the strategic planning and decision-making process Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals based on: - Answer sex, race, color, national origin, and religion Who does Title VII apply to? - Answer Companies with at least 15 or more employees including federal, state, and local governments The Americans with Disability Act covers individuals who: - Answer Have serious disabilities, such as epilepsy, blindness, or paralysis, that affect their ability to perform major life activities such as walking, learning and working Have a history of disability, such as someone who has had cancer but is currently in remission Are regarded as having a disability, such as an individual who is severely disfigured and is denied employment because an employer fears negative reactions from others The Civil Rights Act of 1991: - Answer The amount of punitive damages depends on the size of the organization charged with the discrimination The act amends the CRA of 1866, the CRA of 1964, the ADEA of 1967, and the ADA of 1990 Punitive damages are awarded only in cases of intentional discrimination or with malice or reckless indifference to the employees federally protected rights Civil Rights Act of 1866: - Answer Granted citizenship and the same rights enjoyed by white citizens to all male persons in the United States "without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude." The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967: - Answer Protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994: - Answer Employers must reemploy workers who leave jobs to fulfill military duties for up to 5 years Employers must reemploy workers in the job they would have held if they had not left to serve, including the same seniority, status, and pay Disabled veterans have up to two years to recover from injuries received during their service or training, and employers must make reasonable accommodation for a remaining disability Disparate Treatment - Answer An employee who makes a disparate treatment claim alleges that he or she was treated differently than other employees who were similarly situated, and that the difference was based on a protected characteristic. Intentional discrimination Example: A woman with school-aged children is rejected on the assumption that she will frequently be absent from work Disparate Impact - Answer Practices in employment, housing, and other areas that adversely affect one group of people of a protected characteristic more than another, even though rules applied by employers or landlords are formally neutral. Unintentional discrimination Example: Black applicants are being disproportionately rejected relative to whites by a paper-and-pencil test Under the Americans with Disability Act, an "undue hardship" has been defined as an action: - Answer Requiring significant difficulty or expense Hostile Working Environment harassment - Answer Occurs when an employee is subject to unwelcome advances, sexual innuendos, or offensive gender-related language that is sufficiently severe or pervasive from the perspective of a reasonable person of the same gender as the offended employee. Example: A male employee, over the objections of his female colleagues, continues to display a highly suggestive calendar within his office Rights granted under the Occupational Safety and Health Act: - Answer Request an inspection Have a dangerous substance identified Have employer violations posted at the work site Under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard, organizations must do: - Answer Have material safety data sheets for chemicals that employees are exposed to within the workplace Ensure that all containers of hazardous chemicals are labeled with information about the hazard Train employees in the safe handling of all chemicals Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ): - Answer Quality or an attribute that employers are allowed to consider when making decisions on the hiring and retention of employees - a quality that when considered in other contexts would constitute discrimination and thus be in violation of civil rights employment law. Such qualifications must be listed in the employment offering. Necessary, rather than preferred, characteristic of the job Job Analysis: - Answer Establish and document the 'job relatedness' of employment procedures such as training, selection, compensation, and performance appraisal. Provide a source of legal defensibility of assessment and selection procedures. Job Analysis - Determining Training Needs: - Answer Training content Assessment tests to measure effectiveness of training Equipment to be used in delivering the training methods of training (i.e., small group, computer-based, video, classroom...) Job Analysis - Compensation: - Answer Skill levels Compensable job factors work environment (e.g., hazards; attention; physical effort) Responsibilities (e.g., fiscal; supervisory) Required level of education (indirectly related to salary level) Job Analysis - Staffing - Answer Job duties that should be included in advertisements of vacant positions; Appropriate salary level for the position to help determine what salary should be offered to a candidate; Minimum requirements (education and/or experience) for screening applicants; interview questions; Selection tests/instruments (e.g., written tests; oral tests; job simulations); Applicant appraisal/evaluation forms; Orientation materials for applicants/new hires Job Analysis - Performance Review: - Answer Goals and objectives Performance standards Evaluation criteria Length of probationary periods Duties to be evaluated Methods of Job Analysis: - Answer Review of job classification systems Incumbent interviews Supervisor interviews Expert panels Structured questionnaires Task inventories Check lists Open-ended questionnaires Observation Incumbent work logs