Deck 2: The Legal Environment

Question 1

A bona fide occupational qualification

A) permits a restaurant to hire young, attractive servers because customers prefer them.
B) is a frequent exception to the law granted by federal courts.
C) permits an employer to discriminate against applicants on the basis of sex.
D) cannot be used by employers to discriminate on the basis of religion.
E) can be used only for affirmative action.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The most noteworthy factors used to characterize a protected class include

A) disability status.
B) religion.
C) national origin.
D) gender.
E) all of these.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

The Occupational Safety and Health Act

A) is enforced by the EEOC.
B) requires employers to provide a hazard-free work environment.
C) permits inspections by specially trained officers called inspectors general.
D) provides for criminal penalties for willful violations of the act.
E) was passed in the late 1980s.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that that federal contractors receiving more than ____ must have affirmative action plans for persons who have disabilities.

A) $100
B) $1,000
C) $2,500
D) $25,000
E) $50,000

Question 5

A local office supply business routinely hires younger workers for stock staff over older applicants because much of the work requires heavy lifting and good mobility.

A) The company needs to show that the job requirements are a business necessity.
B) Illegal discrimination automatically exists.
C) The company should not worry because no laws exist that protect older workers.
D) Let the younger workers do the hiring to protect the company legally.
E) None of these.

Question 6

One method for establishing whether disparate impact exists in a company's hiring practices involves

A) focus groups.
B) using the one-third rule.
C) using absolute counts of protected class members.
D) practicing retaliation.
E) geographic comparisons.

Question 7

Employers with ____ employees must comply will the stipulations of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

A) 1 or more
B) 5 or more
C) 15 or more
D) 20 or more
E) 50 or more

Question 8

Which of the following would probably NOT be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act?

A) A mentally retarded employee
B) An employee with a learning disability
C) An employee with cancer
D) A person with poor vision that is correctable with glasses
E) An employee who is thought to be disabled but is not

Question 9

Which labor law was passed to regulate union actions and internal affairs related to employee representation, shifting some power away from unions?

A) Taft-Hartley Act
B) Fair Practices Act
C) Wagner Act
D) Norris-LaGuardia Act
E) Fair Labor Standards Act

Question 10

The Fair Labor Standards Act legislates such issues as:

A) disparate impact.
B) union activity.
C) child labor.
D) collective bargaining.
E) all of these.

Question 11

Executive Order 11478 requires that federal contractors receiving more than ____ must have affirmative action plans.

A) $1
B) $10,000
C) $50,000
D) $100,000
E) $1,000,000

Question 12

The American with Disabilities Act requires companies to

A) hire everyone with a documented disability.
B) discriminate against those persons who have a disability.
C) hire a diversity consultant.
D) make reasonable accommodations for disabled individuals.
E) spend $100,000 per year on disability training.

Question 13

____ was passed to protect employee safety.

A) ADA
B) FLSA
C) ERISA
D) ADEA
E) OSHA

Question 14

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act makes illegal discrimination based on

A) national origin.
B) age.
C) sexual orientation.
D) disability.
E) knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Question 15

Titleist makes most of the golf clubs it sells to U.S. buyers in China, where the average hourly wage is the equivalent of less than $1 per hour. Under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Titleist

A) is in violation of the act, because $1 per hour is less than the mandated minimum wage.
B) is in violation of the act, because some of the workers are younger than 16 years of age.
C) is in violation of the act, because the Chinese workers are nonexempt.
D) is NOT in violation of the act, because the FLSA applies only to workers in the United States.
E) is NOT in violation of the act, because the Chinese workers work fewer than 40 hours per week.

Question 16

____ was passed to protect employee pensions benefits.

A) ADA
B) FLSA
C) ERISA
D) ADEA
E) OSHA

Question 17

The Family Medical Leave Act requires employers to provide which of the following for employees under certain emergency circumstances?

A) Up to 4 weeks of paid leave
B) Up to 4 weeks of unpaid leave
C) Up to 12 weeks of paid leave
D) Up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave
E) Unlimited unpaid leave

Question 18

Employees at Borders Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, recently held a strike to force their employer to negotiate a labor contract. Borders' employees were given the right to do this by the

A) Taft-Hartley Act.
B) National Labor Relations Act.
C) Landrum-Griffin Act.
D) Occupational Safety and Health Act.
E) Fair Labor Standards Act.

Question 19

Quid pro quo sexual harassment typically involves

A) unwelcome individual advances for a date.
B) sexual favors in return for something of value.
C) making jokes about a particular gender.
D) inappropriate pictures with sexual content displayed on the wall.
E) meeting colleagues for dinner after work hours.

Question 20

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination with respect to age of employees or applicants

A) near retirement age.
B) 40 and over.
C) over 18.
D) 65 or over.
E) over 65.

Question 21

Alpha-Beta Company closed a plant and laid off 100 workers, who each made $100 per day in pay and benefits. The closing was announced by company managers on April 1 and took place 30 days later. Under the provisions of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act of 1988 (WARN), Alpha-Beta must pay a penalty of

A) $0.
B) $200.
C) $40,000.
D) $100,000.
E) $300,000.

Question 22

The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1974 is directed primary at:

A) federal contractors
B) federal subcontractors
C) all private companies
D) both federal contractors and federal subcontractors
E) all of these

Question 23

Disparate treatment occurs when two people are treated differently in similar situations based on a protected characteristic.

Question 24

Scenario 2.1
Tia's Tamale Factory employs 50 workers to make and ship food products all over the United States. Tia's factory is located in Southern California, in a community where 60 percent of the residents have Spanish surnames or identify themselves as Hispanic. Tia must hire a new cook and despite her best efforts, she gets only three applicants. Conchita is a 35-year-old Hispanic female, Sancho is a 17-year-old Hispanic male, and Maureen is a 48-year-old white woman who uses a wheelchair.
Refer to Scenario 2.1. Suppose Conchita and Maureen are equally qualified but Tia must raise the stove at a cost of $10,000 to accommodate Maureen's wheelchair. To avoid the expense, Tia hires Conchita. It is likely this action is

A) lawful under ADA because the applicants were equally qualified.
B) unlawful under Title VII because the applicants were of different races.
C) lawful under ADA if the accommodation was an undue hardship on Tia.
D) lawful under ADA. Maureen is not considered disabled under ADA because her disability is correctable with a wheelchair.
E) unlawful under the ADEA because Conchita is younger than Maureen.

Question 25

Scenario 2.1
Tia's Tamale Factory employs 50 workers to make and ship food products all over the United States. Tia's factory is located in Southern California, in a community where 60 percent of the residents have Spanish surnames or identify themselves as Hispanic. Tia must hire a new cook and despite her best efforts, she gets only three applicants. Conchita is a 35-year-old Hispanic female, Sancho is a 17-year-old Hispanic male, and Maureen is a 48-year-old white woman who uses a wheelchair.
Refer to Scenario 2.1. Suppose Tia hires Sancho and requires him to take a drug test because of safety issues on the job. Can Tia legally require this?

A) Yes. Tia can require Sancho to take a drug test.
B) Yes. However, Tia can only require Sancho to take a drug test before making a job offer.
C) No. This would be against the FLSA.
D) No. This would violate the ADA.
E) No. This would violate the ADEA.

Question 26

The ____ established the workweek in the United States as 40 hours per week.

A) ADA
B) ADEA
C) FMLA
D) ERISA
E) FLSA

Question 27

The Privacy Act of 1974 ensures that

A) federal employees can review their personnel files for accuracy.
B) workers who reveal company secrets to competitors face severe penalties.
C) employers cannot monitor personal emails received on work computers.
D) employees' behavior outside of work cannot be monitored or tested.
E) an employee's medical information cannot be shared without permission from the employee.

Question 28

The law that prohibits employers from collecting genetic information about their employees is called the:

A) Age Discrimination of Employment Act
B) Pregnancy Discrimination Act
C) Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
D) American Disabilities Act
E) Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act

Question 29

A BFOQ exception must be supported with a justified position of business necessity.

Question 30

Executive Order 11246 requires that federal contractors receiving more than ____ must have affirmative action plans.

A) $1
B) $10,000
C) $50,000
D) $100,000
E) $1,000,000

Question 31

Which of the following would be the LEAST likely to be involved when an organization evaluates its legal compliance with human resource management regulations?

A) The firm's legal staff
B) Managers
C) Line workers
D) Human resource staff
E) Outside legal auditors

Question 32

Scenario 2.1
Tia's Tamale Factory employs 50 workers to make and ship food products all over the United States. Tia's factory is located in Southern California, in a community where 60 percent of the residents have Spanish surnames or identify themselves as Hispanic. Tia must hire a new cook and despite her best efforts, she gets only three applicants. Conchita is a 35-year-old Hispanic female, Sancho is a 17-year-old Hispanic male, and Maureen is a 48-year-old white woman who uses a wheelchair.
Refer to Scenario 2.1. Suppose Tia does not hire Sancho. Which of the following regulations could Sancho use in an attempt to claim that Tia discriminated against him?

A) Americans with Disabilities Act
B) The disparate treatment clause of Title VII, due to his race
C) The disparate treatment clause of Title VII, due to his gender
D) Occupational Safety and Health Act
E) Age Discrimination in Employment Act

Question 33

The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 was passed to

A) reduce the use of all drugs in the workplace.
B) reduce the use of illegal drugs in the workplace.
C) illuminate the use of all drugs during working hours.
D) enable companies to monitor the use of drugs outside of the workplace.
E) None of these

Question 34

Disparate impact occurs when an employer knowingly practices illegal discrimination.

Question 35

The basic premise of OSHA is that each employer must provide a workplace that is safe for employees, which is known as the

A) qualification standard.
B) inspection agreement.
C) general duty clause.
D) arbitration agreement.
E) lawful worker treatment clause.

Question 36

Scenario 2.1
Tia's Tamale Factory employs 50 workers to make and ship food products all over the United States. Tia's factory is located in Southern California, in a community where 60 percent of the residents have Spanish surnames or identify themselves as Hispanic. Tia must hire a new cook and despite her best efforts, she gets only three applicants. Conchita is a 35-year-old Hispanic female, Sancho is a 17-year-old Hispanic male, and Maureen is a 48-year-old white woman who uses a wheelchair.
Refer to Scenario 2.1. Tia's workers are mostly Hispanic women. If Tia believes that only a Hispanic women could fit in at her workplace and hires Conchita for this reason, it will likely be

A) discrimination on the basis of national origin in violation of Title VII.
B) discrimination on the basis of age in violation of the ADEA.
C) permissible discrimination because national origin would be a bona fide occupational qualification in this case.
D) permissible because most of the local residents are Hispanics.
E) permissible because Tia is a private employer.

Question 37

Title VII created the Equal Opportunity Commission.

Question 38

Affirmative action requires companies to develop quotas to hire a certain number of individual who represent protect class characteristics.

Question 39

Scenario 2.1
Tia's Tamale Factory employs 50 workers to make and ship food products all over the United States. Tia's factory is located in Southern California, in a community where 60 percent of the residents have Spanish surnames or identify themselves as Hispanic. Tia must hire a new cook and despite her best efforts, she gets only three applicants. Conchita is a 35-year-old Hispanic female, Sancho is a 17-year-old Hispanic male, and Maureen is a 48-year-old white woman who uses a wheelchair.
Refer to Scenario 2.1. Suppose Conchita and Maureen are equally qualified and Tia flips a coin to decide between them. The coin lands on tails and accordingly Tia hires Maureen. This action would probably be

A) a violation of Executive Order 11246.
B) a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
C) a violation of Title VII.
D) not a violation of Title VII because the other employees are primarily Hispanic.
E) permissible under Title VII because the applicants were treated equally.

Question 40

The Privacy Act of 1974 applies directly to ____ employees.

A) federal
B) state
C) for-profit
D) not-for-profit
E) foreign

Question 41

The Equal Pay Act requires companies to pay men and women the same compensation for performing equal work.

Question 42

Which groups constitute protected classes under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? When is a job qualification said to have a disparate impact on protected groups?

Question 43

Describe the two types of sexual harassment identified by the courts.

Question 44

Quid pro quo sexual harassment includes telling suggestive jokes and making disparaging comments about someone's gender.

Question 45

Both AIDS and HIV are covered by the American Disabilities Act.

Question 46

The EEOC and OFCCP are the two primary regulatory agencies for enforcing employment legislation.

Question 47

Summarize the protections that workers are afforded under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Question 48

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act enables a company to assign pregnant women to mandatory alternate working conditions.

Question 49

How does an organization evaluate its compliance with legal requirements?

Question 50

What worker rights are regulated by the National Labor Relations Act? How does this Act differ from the other two significant pieces of legislation regarding labor relations-the Taft-Hartley Act and the Landrum-Griffin Act?