PART I – MULTIPLE CHOICE (40 points; 2 points for each question). PLEASE RECORD THE ANSWERS IN YOUR ANSWER BOOKLET. A reason for appraising employee…

PART I – MULTIPLE CHOICE (40 points; 2 points for each question). PLEASE RECORD THE ANSWERS IN YOUR ANSWER BOOKLET. 1. A reason for appraising employee performance is: a. opportunity to develop corrective action for performance deficiencies b. information for compensation decisions c. information for promotion decisions d. all of the above e. a. and b. 2. If an employee represented by a union is disciplined by management during the term of a collective agreement: a. he/she can go directly to the Labour Relations Board to file a grievance b. an arbitrator will uphold the employer’s decision if he/she finds that the employee was disciplined for just cause c. the union can bypass the grievance procedure and take the employer to court d. he/she can take the employer straight to court e. b. and d. 3. Job evaluation helps to establish: a. the organization’s ability to pay b. labour market conditions that affect pay c. internal equity d. merit increases e. compensable factors 4. The grievance procedure: a. is a series of steps in which progressively higher ranking union and employer representatives attempt to resolve the issue in dispute b. requires employers to recognize the union as the bargaining agent of employees c. must have three steps as provided in the Labour Relations Code d. involves stewards who are appointed by the employer to assist employees with grievances e. a. and c. Page 2 5. A colleague, Greg Han, has accepted a position with a small B.C. firm where a union has recently been certified to represent the production employees. Greg will be negotiating the collective agreement with the union. He has asked you to tell him which terms are required by labour relations legislation. The appropriate answer is the following: a. holiday pay b. hours of work and scheduling c. a defined process for resolving workplace disputes d. wages e. c. and d. 6. Which of the following is correct with respect to an application form asking the applicant to indicate whether he/she supports unions: a. it violates the Labour Relations Code and complaints go to the Labour Relations Board b. it violates the Labour Relations Code and complaints go to the court c. it is discrimination on the basis of union sympathy and complaints go to the Human Rights Tribunal d. it is a violation of health and safety legislation e. there is no legal issue with this form 7. Which of the following best describes the advantages of the critical incident method of evaluating the performance of employees: a. it is useful for comparing employees b. it provides specific hard facts for explaining the appraisal c. the major focus is setting organization-wide goals d. a. and b. e. none of the above 8. The following are the principles upon which a fair and just disciplinary process is based: a. a system of progressive discipline b. the right to appeal decisions c. a set of clear rules and regulations d. all of the above e. b. and c. Page 3 9. When labour demand exceeds supply, a business has the following possible solutions to the problem: a. hiring temporary employees b. reducing positions to part time c. subcontracting d. job sharing e. a. and c. 10. A set of simulated tasks or exercises that job candidates (usually those for managerial positions) are asked to perform is known as: a. a managerial development program b. an assessment centre c. a behavioural test d. a multiple hurdle strategy e. an aptitude test 11. An employer is legally required to provide the following benefits: a. long-term disability insurance b. an employee assistance plan c. maternity/pregnancy leave d. Canada/Quebec Pension Plan payments e. c. and d. 12. The advantages of external recruitment include all of the following except: a. acquisition of up-to-date knowledge and expertise b. generation of a larger pool of qualified applicants c. increasing the potential for innovation d. decreasing orientation costs e. none of the above 13. The Canadian Human Rights Act covers: a. all employers and employees in Canada b. federal government employees only c. federal civil servants only d. all organizations under federal jurisdiction e. all employers and employees in the public sector Page 4 14. One of a union’s key concerns is job security for its members. Which of the following terms, if negotiated into the collective agreement, is likely to have a significant impact on job security? a. contracting out b. overtime pay c. technological change d. all of the above e. a. and c. 15. Forced transfers, demotion, changes in pay/benefits are examples of: a. unfair treatment b. harassment c. alternative dispute resolution d. constructive dismissal e. grievance procedure 16. When an organization pays wages that are relatively equal to that of other employers for similar work, this is the basis of: a. comparable worth b. compensable factors c. external equity d. pay equity e. job evaluation 17. The following are the unique features of labour negotiations which explain how they are generally different from basic commercial negotiations: a. the relationship is usually long term b. the wide scope of issues addressed and their complexity c. unique legal considerations such as the duty to bargain in good faith d. all of the above e. b. and c. Page 5 18. A scale that lists a number of traits and a range of performance for each is called: a. a forced distribution b. an alternative ranking method c. a graphic rating scale d. a paired comparison scale e. a behaviourally anchored rating scale 19. The following is an example of non culpable conduct: a. employee refuses to follow a workplace safety rule b. employee insulted a customer after the customer was rude to the employee c. employee decides not to follow a work related order as she believes it will harm company profits d. employee is unable to attend work due to illness e. c. and d. 20. Peter Frampton sat down to appraise the performance of Jennifer Lee, who reports to him. He particularly appreciates how well Jennifer gets along with others in the Department. This caused Peter to rate Jennifer highly on other performance measures such as “completion of projects on time.” What appraisal problem is involved here? a. halo effect b. central tendency c. trait bias d. trait effect e. contamination effect Page 6 PART II (30 points; 5 points for each question) Answers must be in full sentences. Answer 6 of the following 8 questions: 1. You are a partner in an accounting firm and are preparing to interview candidates for articling positions with the firm. You’ve already identified key selection criteria for the position, which include: excellent analytical skills, ability to work under pressure and the ability to interact well with clients and coworkers. Generate one situational interview question and one behavioral interview question for the positions. Be sure to explain how each of the questions is relevant to any of the selection criteria identified. 2. You are a new Human Resources staff person in the Watcon Company, a medium-sized (700 employees) producer of digital timepieces for business and home use. You have been requested to clarify the difference in the roles of “line” and “staff” in terms of increasing employee productivity and effectiveness. How would you explain the difference? In your answer, be sure to address two specific activities that are performed by line managers and two specific activities that are performed by HR staff. 3. “All these laws regulating the employment relationship are bad for business and the economy!” Agree or disagree with this statement by making reference to two separate employment law statutes. 4. The manager you report to at the Revlex Company has asked you to speak about introducing a flexible benefits program at the company. The workforce is demographically diverse. Briefly define what such a program is and cite two advantages and two disadvantages of introducing such a program at Revlex. 5. Your friend Jennifer is working in a unionized job and she has heard about the “grievance process” at her workplace. Explain to Jennifer the role of the grievance procedure in a unionized workplace and, in your answer, explain two ways in which this process benefits the union and two ways in which this process benefits management. 6. In the collective bargaining process, employers and unions have a duty to bargain in good faith. Explain what the duty to bargain in good faith is, and briefly describe three examples of actions that would be a breach of the duty to bargain in good faith. 7. You were hired 8 months ago as a manager at Splash Videogames Ltd., and it is time to prepare for the performance appraisal interview for each of the employees you supervise. You have an under-performing employee on your team. Several employees have complained to you that she “is not properly contributing” to team projects. Cite two steps you would take in preparing for the performance appraisal interview and explain the steps you would take during the interview. 8. Explain the purpose of a union security clause in a collective agreement. In your answer, identify two types of union security clauses and discuss how they are different. Page 7 PART III (30 points) Analyze the following case and answer the questions at the end. Crestwood Mills Nigel Marks is the general manager of Crestwood Mills, a family-owned and managed wood products re-manufacturer in the Fraser Valley. Crestwood manufactures wood windows, doors and a variety of moulding and trim products for use in the booming construction and home renovation industries. Crestwood was founded 27 years ago by John and Henry Lee and currently employs 75 employees at a plant in Abbotsford and a further 15 employees at a call centre operation serving customers and suppliers. In 1997 the United Steelworkers Union became certified as the bargaining agent for employees in the production plant but the call centre remains non-union, despite several efforts by the Steelworkers to bring those employees into the bargaining unit. Crestwood and the union have negotiated four collective agreements. The current agreement expires in May 2010. Nigel is facing a number of challenges in managing the Crestwood workforce. Most of the jobs in the production plant are skilled and high-paid (especially after union negotiations!). Nonetheless, Nigel has observed an increase in employee turnover of approximately 5% in the past several years. Although the company does not have a formal performance appraisal system, Nigel’s impression is that many high performers quit the company recently. To make matters worse, fully 25% of the production workforce will be eligible for early retirement within 5 years. In the call centre the employee group is younger. Although their pay level is close to the industry average, they receive only legally required benefits. Turnover is also a regular problem in the call centre, with some employees only staying for several months. Nigel is concerned about this as he believes there is value in the continuity of customer service and would prefer to have a stable group of employees communicating with customers. As well, constantly replacing employees has proven to be costly and Nigel is not confident in the abilities of some of the employees recruited recently, partly because some longstanding customers have complained about rude and incompetent service. Facing these challenges, Nigel is thinking of re-designing the company’s hiring procedures. Recently several disciplinary problems have come up and Nigel is not sure how to handle them. A number of employees in the production plant have developed significant attendance problems which in several cases have become quite a bit worse very recently. In one case the employee is missing work almost every Monday and seems to take several days sick leave on either side of statutory holidays. Rather than upsetting employees and the union, Nigel has tried to stay away from formal disciplinary action, hoping that a “coaching” approach would keep problems to a minimum. Recently he has begun to question the effectiveness of this approach but is at a loss about what to do instead – except just firing some employees to set an example. One week ago Nigel felt compelled to terminate an employee in the production plant for hitting a supervisor. The employee, Girish Dhaliwal, had been an employee for 8 years and had a clean disciplinary record. He was regarded as a solid, reliable worker – if not the fastest in the plant. Last Tuesday afternoon, Girish received a call from his wife informing him that one of his children had had an accident at school and was in hospital with non-life threatening injuries. One hour before the end of his shift, Girish approached his supervisor asking to be allowed to leave. Though no other employee was close enough to hear the entire conversation, other employees did observe from about 20 feet away. Girish was clearly upset, frantically repeating “my child, my child!” The supervisor Page 8 was smiling – even as he was shaking his head “no” and saying something more to Girish. Suddenly Girish slapped the supervisor, shouting “you do not call me that!” Girish then ran from the plant and raced to the hospital. The next day Nigel terminated Girish for the very serious offences of “striking a supervisor and leaving your assigned duties without permission.” Nigel is starting to become quite uncomfortable about the state of the workforce at Crestwood Mills and needs your advice. QUESTIONS: (30 points: 10 points for each question) 1. In the production plant context, what specific steps do you recommend Nigel take to handle the attendance problems? Make sure to explain the purpose of these steps and why these steps would assist Nigel in addressing this problem. Briefly explain if Nigel can implement these steps if the union objects. 2. How would an arbitrator evaluate the termination of Girish Dhaliwal? 3. What would you recommend Nigel do about acquiring and retaining high quality workers? In your answer, discuss your recommendations for the production plant and the call centre separately.