aPHR Trivia 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees and job applicants aged 40 and older?
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) (Correct answer)
- Equal Pay Act
Correct answer: Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
The ADEA of 1967 protects individuals who are 40 or older from employment discrimination based on age.
Question 2: What HR metric measures the percentage of employees who leave an organization over a given period?
- Absenteeism rate
- Turnover rate (Correct answer)
- Retention rate
- Vacancy rate
Correct answer: Turnover rate
Turnover rate is calculated by dividing the number of separations during a period by the average number of employees, typically expressed as a percentage.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes 'disparate impact' in employment law?
- Intentional discrimination against a protected class
- A neutral policy that disproportionately affects a protected group (Correct answer)
- Harassment based on a protected characteristic
- Retaliation for filing an EEOC complaint
Correct answer: A neutral policy that disproportionately affects a protected group
Disparate impact occurs when a facially neutral employment policy unintentionally results in a disproportionately adverse effect on a protected class.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?
- To administer payroll and benefits enrollment
- To provide confidential counseling and support services for personal or work-related problems (Correct answer)
- To track employee performance and disciplinary actions
- To recruit and onboard new employees
Correct answer: To provide confidential counseling and support services for personal or work-related problems
EAPs offer confidential counseling, referrals, and follow-up services to help employees resolve personal, family, or work-related problems affecting job performance.
Question 5: Which compensation structure links pay increases directly to an employee's measured performance or results?
- Seniority-based pay
- Merit pay (Correct answer)
- Cost-of-living adjustments
- Broadbanding
Correct answer: Merit pay
Merit pay ties salary increases or bonuses directly to an individual employee's performance evaluation results.
Question 6: Under OSHA's General Duty Clause, what are employers required to do?
- Provide workers' compensation insurance to all employees
- Furnish a place of employment free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm (Correct answer)
- Conduct mandatory drug testing for all new hires
- Offer health insurance to all full-time employees
Correct answer: Furnish a place of employment free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm
The General Duty Clause requires employers to maintain a workplace free from known serious hazards even when no specific OSHA standard addresses them.
Question 7: What is 'onboarding' in the context of human resources?
- The process of offboarding departing employees
- The process of integrating new employees into the organization and their roles (Correct answer)
- A performance management review cycle
- A method of succession planning
Correct answer: The process of integrating new employees into the organization and their roles
Onboarding is the process of acclimating new hires to the organization's culture, policies, and their specific job responsibilities.
Which law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees and job applicants aged 40 and older?