Exam 8: Managing Human Resources and Labour Relations

Wildcat strikes deprive workers of their status as employees and thus of the protection of labour laws.

How can management ensure that contingent and temporary workers are used effectively?

Management development programs focus on teaching technical skills to aspiring managers.

The ________ prohibits a wide variety of practices in recruiting, selecting, promoting, and dismissing personnel. Canada Labour Standards Act National Labour Relations Act Canadian Human Rights Act Canadian Labour Relations Act Canadian Employment Equity Act

The process of determining the predictive value of information is called validation.

Kim, a public relations manager, has just completed the process of checking the references of several job candidates. What should she do next? Conduct screening interviews Conduct medical and drug tests Conduct interviews with the candidates Give ability/aptitude tests Administer polygraph tests

With regard to employment insurance premiums, which is correct? The employer must pay all the premiums. The employee must pay all the premiums. Both the employer and the employee pay premiums. The employee pays more of the total premium than the employer. The government pays all the premiums.

Domino Grace is a financial services firm. Currently, it offers competitive salaries and very generous benefit packages. The cost of those packages is very high, but the company believes that these benefits have helped it attract and keep top talent. Domino Grace is completing a merger with Kryptos, Inc. Salaries at Kryptos are slightly below industry averages, and the benefit packages it offers are considerably worse than those offered by Domino Grace. Domino Grace believes that the merger would be in the best interest of the company, but employees at Domino Grace are resisting this change in part because they are worried that they will lose their outstanding benefits after a merger is complete. The CEO of Domino Grace believes that the best way to overcome the employees' resistance to change is through education and communication. The Kryptos CEO believes that it will be necessary to force the employees to accept the changes. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen the Kryptos CEO's argument? Mergers are more common in the financial services industry than in many other industries. Mergers are easier to execute when the merged organizations have similar corporate cultures. At Kryptos, accounting, operations, and human resources are among the departments that already have the capacity to serve a much larger organization. Overcoming resistance to change by using threats and other forms of coercion is usually considered only after all other options have been considered. Kryptos offers employees the opportunity to serve for a year or more in overseas offices.

Dexterity Business School provides short-term training workshops to a variety of corporations, out of a chain of small centers across the country. The instructors leading the workshops are hired on a contingent basis, and paid a set lump sum for each program. A supervisor at each location is responsible for recruiting instructors and providing them with Dexterity's prepared teaching materials. At the Canal City location, Andy Ashe has been leading these workshops for several years, and has been asked back several times by local businesses who find his workshops especially popular because of his verbal skills and keen sense of humor. The supervisor, Charlotte Monahan, has found that while her location contracts with several other instructors, businesses often ask for Ashe by name, even agreeing to postpone their contracted sessions until he is available. Dexterity's policies state that all contingent instructors are paid the same rate per workshop. Nevertheless, Ashe is aware of his popularity, and requests that Monahan start giving him a higher rate for his workshops. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen Dexterity's case in maintaining Ashe's current contract rate? Monahan has never directly observed Ashe's performance in presenting a workshop. As a contract worker, Ashe does not receive medical or retirement benefits. Monahan has few applications from other qualified instructors in the area. Dexterity uses a single-rate system for contingent workers. There is no other agency in Canal City with whom Ashe could contract to provide similar workshops.

Explain the meaning of workforce diversity.

There is a general consensus that in a few years Canada will face a labour shortage since so many Baby Boomers will be retiring.

Computers B Us is thinking about evaluating the performance of its software programmers based on the number of errors they make. A decision to use this strategy is based on which of the following assumptions? Errors in software errors are more likely than errors in hardware. All users are equally affected by software errors. Software errors have had an increasing impact recently. Software errors are always obvious to the user of the product. It is possible to determine which programmer made the software error that is discovered.

Cindy has placed an advertisement for a job vacancy in the employment section of the newspaper. This is a form of profit sharing. external recruitment. job analysis. vestibule training. internal recruitment.

An assessment centre is a place where potential employees are interviewed for jobs.

Traditionally, union members have been predominately women.

John is reading a document which describes the conditions under which his job will be done, the ways in which it relates to other positions, and the duties he needs to perform. John is probably looking at a job specification. a job description. job relatedness. person-job matching. a job analysis.

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. The impasse continues, and the UFCW threatens to call a strike during the high-demand period of spring. What would be the most prudent response that management could use to try to overcome the breakdown in negotiations? Institute proceedings to decertify the union's right to bargain at the greenhouse. Run the greenhouse for several days with management personnel, helped out with nonunion contract employees. Plan to halt operations at the affected greenhouse for several weeks, until the striking workers' resources are depleted. Organize a picket line outside the greenhouse. Concede to the union's demands, even though they will have a serious impact on Florabunda's finances.

Computers B Us is thinking about evaluating the performance of its software programmers based on the number of lines of code they produce. If the following facts were known, which one would suggest that this idea is unwise? Software programmers typically don't have direct contact with customers, nor do they decide on product specifications. The company has found a way to use fewer lines of code to perform a given function than its competitors. Software programmers can decide to program in such a way that the number of lines required to perform a function increases. The financial success of the company is dependent on having an effective software programming team. Most of the current programmers would receive poor evaluations if they are evaluated based on the number of lines of code.

List the options available to unions if contract negotiations break down.

The Canadian Human Rights Act guarantees a job to any qualified person who wants one.