Exam 8: Managing Human Resources and Labour Relations

Florabunda, a national wholesale plant supply company that caters to home gardeners, maintains greenhouses in several locations. These provide flower and vegetable seedlings for nurseries and garden centers nationwide and also pots of flowering plants, such as tulips and poinsettias, for other holidays. Relations with employees seemed smooth for some years, but over time the firm has come to rely on short-term contingent labor, especially in the spring when Florabunda fulfills large standing orders for bedding plants. At one of its largest greenhouse locations, employees invite the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) to represent them as a union. The Florabunda greenhouse engages in collective bargaining with the UFCW. A key issue involves workplace safety, as the greenhouses are often fumigated with pesticides to kill insects. Management claims that it takes customary and effective precautions to protect the health of its workers, whereas the union expresses concerns that the pesticides might cause long-term health problems. While bargaining over the workplace safety issue, which of the following strategies would be most beneficial in keeping the process moving ahead in good faith? Be aware that each side needs to show that it has obtained important concessions. Be as flexible as possible with the objectives behind each bargaining move. Warn that if the conflict is not resolved, each side is prepared to stage a strike or lockout. Begin by making extravagant demands, which the other side is not expected to accept. Try to come to agreement on points of conflict as quickly as possible.

The Canada Labour Code is a comprehensive piece of legislation that applies to the labour practices of firms operating under the legislative authority of parliament. divides authority over labour regulations between the federal and provincial governments. is made up of five sections. outlines 60 hours as the maximum hours of work per week. has a section on collective bargaining that is subdivided into eight sections.

A certification vote is the process by which employees continue their union's right to represent them. a vote to certify those on the union bargaining team. a process by which union officials take their votes to the labour board to apply for certification. a vote supervised by a government official to determine if employees wish to terminate their union's rights. a vote supervised by a government representative to determine whether a union will be certified.

The average hourly wage is higher in manufacturing than it is in retailing.

What is the source of power for labour unions? A shortage of workers Collective bargaining Parliament Public opinion All of these

________ are temporary or permanent replacements for striking workers. Contingent workers Union breakers Shop stewards Strikebreakers Union busters

When a union that is striking asks the employer's customers to stop buying the employer's products, the union is requesting a(n) lockout. reverse picket. picket. injunction. boycott.

Individual incentive plans reward individual performance on a real-time basis; that is, they give a financial reward for outstanding performance immediately or soon after it happens.

Asking a prospective employee a question like "Tell me about a situation where you took the initiative" would happen when the __________ approach is being used. aptitude testing behaviour-based interviewing curveball testing assessment centre

The use of newspaper advertisements, visits to high schools, colleges, and university campuses, and use of employment agencies are part of performance appraisals. external recruiting. community involvement. internal training programs. compensation studies.

Categories of contingent workers include independent contractors, but not on-call workers.

What is a piece rate incentive plan?

In one survey of over 1000 managers, the majority said they had to learn how to manage by trial and error.

Jake is reviewing his salary, the bonus plan, the profit-sharing plan, and the benefit program. Jake is looking at the wages system. salary system. compensation system. pay-for-performance system. merit salary system.

Which of the following is correct with respect to behaviour-based interviewing? It assesses how well an applicant is likely to get along with other workers if the applicant is hired. A question like "Do you often take the initiative?" is a good example of the kind of question that would be asked in a behaviour-based interview. It focuses on finding out how an applicant has reacted to important or difficult job situations in the past and assumes that these are a good indicator of how the person will react in the future. The interviewer asks the applicant a highly structured series of questions. All of these are correct.

Identify and discuss the various types of incentive compensation plans.

When an employee performance rater recalls examples of especially good or poor performance by an employee, this is called the process improvement method. the inconsistency method. the new work force method. the high-visibility method. the critical incident method.

Santora: The steps this organization has taken to remedy years of discriminatory practices are clearly insufficient. Granted, there has been some progress in hiring entry-level personnel. The organization's first minority employees were hired one year ago. Still, there is not one minority anywhere in upper management. This failure clearly demonstrates the organization's lack of commitment to diversity. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen Santora's argument? Very few minorities were chosen for the leadership training program offered to promising entry-level employees. Very few minority candidates live within commuting distance of the organization's offices. Very few minority employees would have been hired under the organization's leadership at the time the organization was founded. The organization has a large number of employees but only a small number of upper-management positions. The organization expects greater growth in its product offerings than in its service offerings.

What is the purpose of incentive pay plans? They provide a mechanism for managers to constructively discipline troublesome employees To motivate high performance To reduce the amount of wages payable to employees They permit accurate and honest performance appraisals Compliance with federal law which requires incentives such as social insurance and workers' compensation

Why have unions had difficulty winning certification votes in recent years?