CPM Human Resource Management in Government 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which agency was created to adjudicate federal employee appeals?
- Office of Personnel Management
- Merit Systems Protection Board (Correct answer)
- Federal Labor Relations Authority
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Correct answer: Merit Systems Protection Board
The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) was established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 to hear and decide federal employee appeals.
Question 2: A public manager wants to reduce involuntary turnover among high performers. Which retention strategy is most directly effective?
- Increasing mandatory overtime
- Implementing structured stay interviews (Correct answer)
- Reducing leave benefits to cut costs
- Eliminating probationary periods
Correct answer: Implementing structured stay interviews
Stay interviews proactively identify why high performers remain and what might cause them to leave, enabling targeted retention actions.
Question 3: Which doctrine allows a government employer to dismiss an at-will employee without providing a reason?
- Sovereign immunity
- Employment-at-will doctrine (Correct answer)
- Reduction-in-force doctrine
- Constructive discharge doctrine
Correct answer: Employment-at-will doctrine
The employment-at-will doctrine permits termination without cause unless limited by contract, statute, or constitutional protections.
Question 4: When a government agency conducts a job analysis, the PRIMARY purpose is to:
- Set salary ranges for the position
- Define the essential functions and requirements of a job (Correct answer)
- Screen candidates for security clearances
- Determine union bargaining unit eligibility
Correct answer: Define the essential functions and requirements of a job
Job analysis identifies the duties, responsibilities, and required competencies of a position, forming the foundation for all HR functions.
Question 5: A public agency's workforce plan reveals an impending retirement wave that will eliminate 30% of institutional knowledge. The BEST immediate response is to:
- Freeze all promotions until retirements occur
- Implement knowledge transfer and succession planning programs (Correct answer)
- Outsource affected functions to private contractors
- Reduce the number of positions to match projected staff
Correct answer: Implement knowledge transfer and succession planning programs
Succession planning and knowledge transfer programs capture critical expertise before retirements and prepare future leaders.
Question 6: Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which category of government employees is entitled to overtime pay?
- Executive employees earning above the salary threshold
- Non-exempt employees working more than 40 hours per week (Correct answer)
- All salaried government workers regardless of role
- Employees classified as professional under FLSA exemptions
Correct answer: Non-exempt employees working more than 40 hours per week
Non-exempt employees under the FLSA must receive overtime pay at 1.5 times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
Question 7: Which performance appraisal method requires managers to rank all employees from highest to lowest performer?
- Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)
- Forced ranking distribution (Correct answer)
- Management by Objectives (MBO)
- Critical incidents method
Correct answer: Forced ranking distribution
Forced ranking requires supervisors to rank employees along a distribution, often creating a top-to-bottom ordering of all staff.
CPM Human Resource Management in Government 2
Under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which agency was created to adjudicate federal employee appeals?