Reference no: EM131290299

Compensation Management

Quiz 1

1) What is the primary factor that will prevent companies from growing in the next decade?

2) Protection programs are what type of compensation benefits?

3) Which of the following would be an example of a non-monetary reward?

4) This law made it illegal to pay women less for performing equal work as men.

5) What is the typical annual Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in recent years?

6) What type of pay system rewards employees for partially or completely attaining a predetermined work objective?

7) Jason works at a call center for an insurance company and he has been answering calls regarding auto insurance. Recently, he started to attend a training program about home insurance. Upon successful completion of this training program, Jason will be able to handle home insurance questions and queries as well. If this insurance company has a compensation policy that rewards Jason's completion of this training, then what type of pay system does it employ?

8) Which of the following is NOT one of the three broad categories that discretionary benefits fall into?

9) Samuel is a recently hired HR professional working at XYZ Motor Co. His current project involves recording the time it takes assembly workers to complete their tasks. With the help of industrial engineers in the manufacturing plant, the aim of this project is to identify the most effective ways of assembly operations. Which of the following is NOT related to Samuel's project?

10) These are positive employer gestures that beyond what was required by law, created in part to thwart potential union activity.

Quiz 2

1) This amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, individual states, and Indian Tribes.

2) Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution made it illegal to restrict the freedom of religion, speech, and press, as well as protect the right of people to peacefully assemble?

3) Which branch of the federal government is responsible for interpreting laws?

4) These programs granted income to workers who were unable to work due to injuries sustained while on the job.

5) Which one of these issues is NOT addressed by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938?

6) An employee has a regular hourly rate equal to $12. According to FLSA, how much should her/his employer pay this employee for each additional hour worked beyond the regular 40 hours within a period of 7 consecutive days?

7) An employee has a regular hourly rate equal to $10? S/he works 45 hours within a period of 7 consecutive days. How much should her/his employer pay this employee for 45 hours in total?

8) What are the revised guidelines introduced in 2004 for determining whether jobs are exempt from FLSA overtime pay provisions called?

9) Which of the following example is NOT considered as a compensable work activity?

10) Based upon the FLSA child labor provisions, what is the minimum age that a child must be in order to be legally employed?

Quiz 3

Write a six to eight page paper in which you:

1. Briefly describe the company you researched, its compensation strategy, best practices they are applying, and compensation-related challenges they are facing.

2. Analyze how your company applies compensation practice to determine the positive or negative impact to the company and its stakeholders.

3. Examine the ways in which laws, labor unions, and market factors impact the companys compensation practices. Provide specific examples to support your response.

4. Evaluate the effectiveness of traditional bases for pay at the company you researched.

5. Use at least three quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

1) Which of the following is based on the human capital theory?

2) The collective bargaining system was established by passage of which federal Act?

3) This term is defined as added pay for employees who have reached the maximum of a pay grade and who are unlikely to move into higher grades.

4) Which of the following is an advantage of seniority pay systems?

5) In 2011, employees were expected to earn average merit increases of what percent?

6) Which pay system is most widely used in America today?

7) Which two factors should compensation professionals consider before endorsing the use of merit pay systems?

8) This term refers to the minimum pay increase that employees view as a significant change in their compensation amount.

9) If an employee is rated as outstanding on her leadership ability she was probably rated using which appraisal system?

10) XYZ Company ranks its employees from the best performer to the poorest performer and the employee with the best performance receives the highest ranking. What type of performance appraisal method is used by this company?

Quiz 4

1) Which of the following is true concerning incentive pay?

2) Which of the following is true of incentive pay?

3) Customer satisfaction, labor cost savings, materials cost savings, and reduction in accidents were listed as typical performance measures for which type of incentive plan?

4) In addition to the guaranteed hourly pay rate, John receives incentives for every item produced over the designated production standard. What kind of incentive plan is used in this situation?

5) The concept that a hard working employee is likely to stay at an incentive pay position is better known as this.

6) Which type of individual incentive plan requires the achievement of multiple, complex objectives without compromising the quality and quantity of output that is generated by employees?

7) To have better safety records, XYZ Company gives monetary incentive awards to its workers for lower accident rates due to improper use of heavy equipment.

8) This type of individual incentive plan rewards employees who recruit new customers or new employees.

9) On which teams is membership relatively permanent, with the members working full-time on the team?

10) This is another name for parallel teams.

Quiz 5

1) This clearly defines the relative value of each job among all jobs within a company.

2) This describes job duties, tasks, and relevant factors needed to perform a job adequately.

3) This is the systematic process for recognizing differences in the relative worth among a set of jobs and for establishing pay differentials accordingly.

4) These two are job evaluation techniques.

5) This is a systematic process for gathering, documenting, and analyzing information in order to describe jobs.

6) One of the essential skills that software development engineers must have is the proficiency in at least one of the modern computer programming languages such as Java or C++. This must be indicated in which part of the job analysis description?

7) Which unit in the job analysis process is the smallest?

8) In the job analysis process this term represents a group of positions that are identical with respect to their major tasks.

9) This unit of analysis is a group of jobs, found at more than one business, in which a common set of tasks are performed.

10) What source is generally able to provide the most extensive and detailed information about how job duties are performed?

Quiz 6

1) This federal Act requires contractors with federal contracts worth over $2,000 to pay wages at least equal to those prevailing in the area where the work is being done.

2) What represents the relationship between a company's valuation of jobs based on job evaluation and the valuation of jobs within the external market, as assessed by compensation surveys?

3) This term refers to the groupings of jobs based on compensable factors, for the purpose of applying pay policies.

4) When these are used to develop pay grade widths, the grades are based on a set number of job evaluation points for each grade that increases as an employee moves up the pay structure.

5) These represent the horizontal dimension of pay structures.

6) Midpoint, minimum, and maximum are values used to define which of the following?

7) In establishing pay grades, which pay rate is established first?

8) If the company adopts a market lead policy, how will that company's pay range midpoint compare to the market average?

9) If the company adopts a market lag policy, how will that company's pay range midpoint compare to the market average?

10) Which term is used to describe the situation where the pay spread between newly hired employees and more qualified job incumbents is small?

Quiz 7

Using the same company you researched in Assignment 1, evaluate the companys compensation plan to determine how it could be improved. Write a six to eight page paper in which you:

1. Evaluate the existing compensation plan to determine if it is the most appropriate for your company. Explain your rationale.

2. Determine the most beneficial ratio of internally consistent and market consistent compensations systems for the company you selected.

3. Evaluate the current pay structure used by your company and assess the recognition of employee contributions.

4. Make two recommendations for improving the effectiveness of the discretionary benefits provided by the company you selected.

5. Evaluate the types of employer-sponsored retirement plans and health insurance programs provided by the company you selected and compare them to that companys major competitors.

6. Use at least three quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

1) In 2010, discretionary benefits accounted for as much as what percentage of an employer's total payroll costs?

2) Discretionary benefits are generally divided into which three categories?

3) Which of the following is an example of a welfare practice?

4) You broke your neck at work. The company called to inform you that they had to switch your benefits from the short-term disability account to the long-term account. That means you've probably been off work around how long?

5) Which of the following is NOT a condition manifesting short-term disability?

6) This is a mental or physical disability for which medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was received, during a designated period preceding the beginning of disability insurance coverage.

7) Which of the following is a feature of short-term disability plans?

8) Self-inflicted wounds and drug dependency are generally considered as what in most short-term disability insurance plans?

9) Long-term disability benefits usually pay employees which range of monthly pretax salary?

10) Companies that offer long-term disability insurance plans only require an elimination period that runs how long?

Quiz 8

1) As of March 2009, how much did U.S. companies spend per employee on average to provide legally required benefits?

2) In 2009, Carnation Candles had 100 employees. Approximately how much did the legally required benefits cost the company that year?

3) The first 4 quarters of the last 5 completed calendar quarters in the previous year is the base period for which benefit?

4) If an employee wants to apply for unemployment benefits, how much will s/he have to have earned, in the last four quarters, to qualify?

5) How often will Jill receive an unemployment check?

6) What is the only state that requires employee contributions under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)?

7) If the CEO of a new company asked you how much per employee she will be taxed by FUTA, what would you tell her?

8) To be fully insured under OASDI, an employee would have to work at least how long?

9) In 2011, how much would you have to earn to qualify for one quarter of credit for OASDI coverage?

10) Samuel's full retirement age is 65 years old and his monthly benefit at that age is $1,000. According to the Social Security Administration retirement program, if Samuel decides to take retirement as early as age 63, his monthly benefit will be

Quiz 9

1) What does the IRS use the term "key employees" for?

2) The IRS considers Sylvia to be a highly compensated employee for Beautiful Pictures, Inc., which means she has at least one of which of the following qualifications in the preceding year?

3) Which of the following are the two main components of current core compensation?

4) Under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), banks with financial assistance from the federal government can only deduct how much annually for an executive's pay as a business expense?

5) This type of executive bonus plan is similar to the appraisal system used to determine merit increases for non-executive employees.

6) This type of executive bonus is based on a bonus pool that is determined by a fixed-formula that is not determined by the executive's performance.

7) Which executive bonus amount varies with the extent to which a pre-established minimum performance level is met?

8) As the vice-president, Sheila will receive short-term incentive compensation awards based on which two conditions?

9) A short-term incentive plan would most likely be used for which company employee?

10) What is the advantage of compensation deferment until retirement for a CEO?

Quiz 10

1) What law mandates that management bargain in good faith with labor unions over terms of employment such as wages?

2) What does the term repatriation refer to?

3) International employees are categorized into one of these three titles.

4) If your company hired a Canadian manager to work in your plant in Taiwan, she would be considered which type of international employee?

5) An international assignment is considered long-term when it lasts at least how long?

6) Your company is sending Sheila on a six-month assignment to Sweden, so you should probably use which method to determine her base pay?

7) AT&T plans on sending R.J. to Peru to work for at least 3 years. They will probably use which method to set his base pay?

8) Since he started at American Eyeful Pictures, Inc., David has worked in Japan, China, and Thailand. The company has probably set his base pay using which method?

9) Which base-pay method works best for expatriates who move from one foreign assignment to another and rarely, if ever, work in their home countries?

10) Juanita was told that on her first overseas assignment she would be getting a foreign service premium. That probably means she will be there at least how long?