HR Case Studies & Practical Application 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A company's job posting software automatically removes applicants over 55 from consideration based on a 'career trajectory' score. What type of violation does this most clearly represent?
- A breach of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- A violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) (Correct answer)
- A violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
- A breach of the Equal Pay Act
Correct answer: A violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
Using algorithmic proxies that systematically screen out applicants over 40 constitutes age discrimination under the ADEA.
Question 2: An HR team is selecting a new talent management suite. The vendor demo shows powerful analytics but the implementation timeline is 18 months. What question should HR prioritize asking the vendor?
- What is the cost of upgrading to the premium tier?
- What is the implementation risk mitigation plan and what happens to existing workflows during transition? (Correct answer)
- How many other companies in the same industry use this platform?
- Does the platform have a mobile app?
Correct answer: What is the implementation risk mitigation plan and what happens to existing workflows during transition?
An 18-month implementation introduces significant operational risk; HR must understand how existing HR functions will be maintained during transition.
Question 3: A company uses employee engagement survey software but the sample sizes for some teams are so small that individual responses can be inferred. What is the ethical concern?
- Small sample sizes produce statistically unreliable data
- Employee anonymity is compromised, which may suppress honest responses and violate trust (Correct answer)
- The survey software vendor will lose access to aggregate benchmarks
- Managers will over-interpret results from small teams
Correct answer: Employee anonymity is compromised, which may suppress honest responses and violate trust
When sample sizes are too small, confidentiality is effectively breached, chilling honest feedback and potentially exposing employees to retaliation.
Question 4: A company's HR software sends automated performance improvement plan (PIP) notifications without HR review. An employee on FMLA leave receives a PIP notice. What is the primary risk?
- The employee may feel demotivated upon return
- Issuing a PIP during protected FMLA leave may constitute interference or retaliation under federal law (Correct answer)
- The PIP process will need to restart when the employee returns
- The software vendor is liable for the mistimed notification
Correct answer: Issuing a PIP during protected FMLA leave may constitute interference or retaliation under federal law
Taking adverse action against an employee on FMLA leave — even via automated systems — may constitute unlawful FMLA interference.
Question 5: A benefits administration platform allows employees to waive employer-sponsored health coverage only if they attest to having other qualifying coverage. An audit reveals many waivers lack valid attestations. What is HR's best response?
- Retroactively enroll all waiving employees in the employer plan without consent
- Audit waiver records, contact affected employees to obtain valid attestations or reverse waivers, and fix the system validation logic (Correct answer)
- Ignore the gap since employees chose to waive coverage voluntarily
- Report the issue to the IRS immediately without correcting records first
Correct answer: Audit waiver records, contact affected employees to obtain valid attestations or reverse waivers, and fix the system validation logic
Valid attestations are required for ACA compliance; HR must remediate the gap and fix the system to prevent future incomplete waivers.
Question 6: A company's HR software vendor experiences a ransomware attack that encrypts all payroll data three days before a payroll run. What should HR do immediately?
- Delay payroll until the vendor resolves the attack
- Activate the business continuity plan — use backup payroll data and process via an alternate method to meet pay deadlines (Correct answer)
- Notify all employees that payroll will be late and explain the vendor's fault
- File a lawsuit against the vendor before taking any other action
Correct answer: Activate the business continuity plan — use backup payroll data and process via an alternate method to meet pay deadlines
Employee pay obligations are a legal requirement; activating business continuity plans ensures timely payment regardless of vendor incidents.
Question 7: A retail chain's workforce management software is generating schedules that consistently deny predictive scheduling notice required by local law, exposing the company to fines. What is the root cause most likely to be?
- Employees are not entering their availability correctly
- The software is not configured with the jurisdiction's advance notice and premium pay rules (Correct answer)
- Local predictive scheduling laws are unenforceable
- Store managers are manually overriding the software's schedule outputs
Correct answer: The software is not configured with the jurisdiction's advance notice and premium pay rules
Predictive scheduling compliance requires explicitly configuring local ordinance rules — advance notice windows and premium pay triggers — into the system.
HR Case Studies & Practical Application 5
A company's job posting software automatically removes applicants over 55 from consideration based on a 'career trajectory' score.
What type of violation does this most clearly represent?