QUESTION 1

1. You have determined that the lowest-paying employer pays its accounting clerk a mean total compensation of $32,000 and that the highest-paying employer pays its accounting clerk a mean total compensation of $41,600. What is the dispersion in accounting clerks' compensation across firms?

   a. 23 percent
   b. 30 percent
   c. 77th percentile
   d. 25th percentile

QUESTION 2

1. What analytical approach provides a middle value in an ordered list of values?

   a. mean
   b. key job method
   c. compa-ratio
   d. median

QUESTION 3

1. What can you conclude from determining that your company has a very large interquartile range quotient?

   a. You may have a job matching issue.
   b. Your data set is "on market."
   c. You may need to increase wages
   d. Your compa-ratio is not appropriate.

 

QUESTION 4

1. What is the first step in analyzing compensation survey data?

   a. drawing inferences from the data
   b. aging the data
   c. inspecting the data
   d. assessing central tendency

QUESTION 5

1. Which source of compensation data tends to suffer from poor reliability?

   a. government agencies
   b. industry groups
   c. informal surveys
   d. compensation consultants

QUESTION 6

1. After reviewing your company's pay data, you determine the compa-ratio to be equal to one. What can you conclude from this?

   a. Employees, on average, are being paid above the midpoint at that firm.
   b. The majority of employees are in the fourth pay quartile.
   c. The firm is paying their employees in the bottom half of the pay range.
   d. Employees, on average, are being paid at the midpoint.

QUESTION 7

1. Which statement is an example of public sector wage compression?

   a. Public sector employees at the lower end of the job hierarchy usually earn less than comparable employees in the private sector, while public sector employees at the top of the job hierarchy usually earn more than they would in the private sector.
   b. Public sector employees at the lower end of the job hierarchy usually earn more than comparable employees in the private sector, while public sector employees at the top of the job hierarchy usually earn less than they would in the private sector.
   c. Private sector employees at the lower end of the job hierarchy usually earn more than comparable employees in the public sector, while public sector employees at the top of the job hierarchy usually earn less than they would in the private sector.
   d. Wage compression happens in the public sector when the organization introduces job evaluation and broad banding.

QUESTION 8

1. In the resource industry employers are able to pay more because labour is a small portion of total production costs.

    True

    False

QUESTION 9

1. At a basic level, what do employers need to know when attempting to gather information about a relevant labour market?

   a. what competitors are paying for labour
   b. future labour demand in the industry
   c. competitors' future labour plans
   d. the indirect benefits offered by competitors

QUESTION 10

1. If the economy was doing well and there was a shortage of labour, the HR department should consider compensation differentials to improve recruitment.

    True

    False

QUESTION 11

1. The recent extensive use of indirect pay and performance pay has complicated an organization's ability to analyze and compare compensation data.

    True

    False

QUESTION 12

1. Which of the following best explains a compa-ratio above 1?

   a. on average, employees are being paid below the midpoint at that firm.
   b. on average, employees are being paid above the midpoint at that firm.
   c. on average, employees are being paid at the midpoint at that firm.
   d. on average, employees are being paid above market rates at that firm.

QUESTION 13

1. One way of assessing where employees are actually being paid in the pay range is to ask respondents to report the number of employees in each quartile of the pay range for each job.

    True

    False

QUESTION 14

1. Which term refers to the division of an ordered list of values into either four groups or ten groups?

   a. interquartile groups
   b. percentiles
   c. quartiles or deciles
   d. mode groups

QUESTION 15

1. The first step in conducting a compensation survey is to ensure that employment data is accurate?

    True

    False

QUESTION 16

1. What final step must be completed before applying survey data?

   a. calculating compa-ratio
   b. determining dispersion rates
   c. aging the data

        d. adjusting job hierarchy to match market data

QUESTION 17

1. Assume that higher than average wages are being paid in the tobacco industry. What concept is this an example of?

   a. compensating differential
   b. labour market scarcity
   c. the industry's compa-ratio
   d. positive industry reputation

QUESTION 18

1. Your company has decided to use third-party surveys to help you determine labour market base wages. What is one advantage associated with third-party surveys?

   a. They may not collect important data.
   b. Data collection is easy and they cost little.
   c. They provide aggregate data.
   d. Not all compensation characteristics are collected.

QUESTION 19

1. What is the main advantage of conducting a formal in-house survey?

   a. Technical expertise is readily available.
   b. Most employers are willing to share information
   c. It is easy to design and costs little.
   d. Data quality and appropriateness are ensured.

QUESTION 20

1. In the resource industry employers are able to pay more because labour is a small portion of total production costs.

    True

    False

QUESTION 1

1. Some workers are being paid above their pay range and then they get their wage rate frozen at their current rate of pay until salary scales catch up. What is this practice is called?

   a.

   green-circling

   b.

   red-circling

   c.

   merit pay reduction

   d.

   conservative pay reduction

1 points   

QUESTION 2

1. Functional job analysis was pioneered in the United States in the 1930s and is the precursor to the Canadian National Occupational Classification system.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 3

1. Which method of job analysis focuses on the behaviours that make up a job and uses job elements to describe work activities?

   a.

   Position Analysis Questionnaire

   b.

   Interviews

   c.

   Observation

   d.

   Functional Job Analysis

1 points   

QUESTION 4

1. A job specification is summary of the duties, responsibilities, and reporting relationships pertaining to a particular job.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 5

1. What is one problem with using the ranking/paired job evaluation method?

   a.

   It is time consuming.

   b.

   It is not acceptable to pay equity commissions.

   c.

   It is not acceptable to employment equity commissions.

   d.

   It cannot address external market equity.

1 points   

QUESTION 6

1. What are the three main reasons for conducting job evaluations?

   a.

   to decrease wage costs, to create job families, and to create pay equity

   b.

   to control wage costs, to create equitable pay structures, and to create employment equity

   c.

   to control wage costs, to create equitable pay structures, and to create the perception of an equitable pay system among participants

   d.

   to increase wage costs, to create equitable pay structures, and to create pay equity

1 points   

QUESTION 7

1. In 2018, Canada passed pay equity legislation that applies to all employers in Canada.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 8

1. A job description is a summary of the employee qualifications required to perform the duties for a given job.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 9

1. What is the major benefit for the ranking method of job analysis?

   a.

   It creates a series of grade descriptions.

   b.

   It creates a series of grade descriptions.

   c.

   It creates relative equal intervals between job classifications.

   d.

   It incorporates market data.

1 points   

QUESTION 10

1. What occurs to the female job class if the percentage of secretaries in that job class changes from 95 percent to 30 percent?

   a.

   It becomes a new job class.

   b.

   It becomes a male job class.

   c.

   It remains a female job class.

   d.

   It becomes a gender neutral job class.

1 points   

QUESTION 11

1. Why might using job descriptions for job evaluation purposes prove problematic?

   a.

   Companies simply do not keep wage rates updated.

   b.

   The dynamic nature of the general environment creates a situation whereby job duties change without human resources departments noticing it.

   c.

   Creating and maintaining job descriptions is not a laborious process.

   d.

   The output created by the job analysis process yields poor results.

1 points   

QUESTION 12

1. What is a valid reason to re-evaluate jobs?

   a.

   A new member joins the committee.

   b.

   The compensation-level strategy changes.

   c.

   A new performance system is implemented.

   d.

   There is a high level of appeals.

1 points   

QUESTION 13

1. What is the first step in most pay equity processes?

   a.

   analyze gender data

   b.

   determine what rules and laws apply

   c.

   review compensation

   d.

   analyze and compare jobs

1 points   

QUESTION 14

1. Which term refers to an organization that gives an employee the ability to appeal a decision of the job evaluation committee?

   a.

   procedural justice

   b.

   distributional justice

   c.

   organizational justice

   d.

   grievance system

1 points   

QUESTION 15

1. What is the observation method of job analysis well-suited for?

   a.

   jobs that have a short work cycle

   b.

   jobs with a long work cycle

   c.

   minimum wage jobs

   d.

   minimum wage jobs

1 points   

QUESTION 16

1. Which term refers to the relative value of different jobs as determined by knowledgeable individuals?

   a.

   the proxy method

   b.

   PAQ analysis

   c.

   paired comparison method

   d.

   the ranking method

1 points   

QUESTION 17

1. Once an organization has posted its pay equity plan, it has met its legal responsibility under the legislation and no further action is required.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 18

1. Which job evaluation category uses human judgement as the determining factor?

   a.

   whole job

   b.

   factor comparison

   c.

   statistical/policy capturing

   d.

   point-factor management analysis

1 points   

QUESTION 19

1. ABC Inc. is a new organization planning to launch a call centre in the next six months. You have been tasked with creating detailed job descriptions for several operational roles in the call centre. Which information collection method would you likely rely on to gather job information?

   a.

   utility analysis

   b.

   functional job analysis

   c.

   variable analysis

   d.

   data analysis

1 points   

QUESTION 20

1. What is a primary problem of job analysis process?

   a.

   creating too many job families

   b.

   analyzing the jobholder not the job

   c.

   having a committee

     d.

   professional designations

QUESTION 1

1. What is the method to establish pay grade widths in which the point spreads are equal for all pay grades?

   a. pay grade bandwidth approach
   b. equal interval approach
   c. equal increase approach
   d. equal percentage approach

1 points   

QUESTION 2

1. Which variable may be considered an advantage associated with the "a priori" method in determining factor weights?

   a. It simple and easily understood.
   b. It assumes pay structures used for benchmarking are correct.
   c. It emphasizes current pay scales.
   d. It forces committee members to work together.

1 points   

QUESTION 3

1. The point method of job evaluation has many benefits, but it does have some drawbacks. From the list below, what would be considered a drawback of the point method?

   a. creates too large of a hierarchy of jobs
   b. creates a large number of appeals
   c. regression line is very rarely applied to the pay system
   d. appears scientifically objective but in reality it is very subjective

1 points   

QUESTION 4

1. You have been provided with the following information about a certain pay range: minimum $50,000; mid-point $55,000; and maximum $60,000. What is the range spread and the range spread percentage?

   a. $10,000 and 20%
   b. $5,000 and 83.33%
   c. $5,000 and 20%
   d. $10,000 and 8.33%

1 points   

QUESTION 5

1. Which step in developing a job evaluation system using the point method allows you to quantify the extent to which each factor is present in a job?

   a. defining the factors
   b. weighting the factors
   c. scaling the factors
   d. testing the system

1 points   

QUESTION 6

1. A company decides to include "customer contact" as a compensable factor in their job evaluation system. What conclusion can you draw from this?

   a. The organization does not value "customer contact" above all other compensable factors.
   b. The organization wants to avoid customer complaints.
   c. "Customer contact" would be explicitly linked to performance bonuses.
   d. "Customer contact" is central to the execution of the company's strategy.

1 points   

QUESTION 7

1. Which of the following should be avoided when using the point method of job evaluation?

   a. benchmarking
   b. factor overlap
   c. equal interval approach
   d. enlargement of pay grid

1 points   

QUESTION 8

1. A "match the market" pay strategy means all jobs in the organization will actually match the market.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 9

1. Considering the factor of "supervisory responsibility," which degree statement is an example of inconsistent construct formation?

   a. Degree 1: no supervisory responsibilities
   b. Degree 2: responsible for supervision of one to three subordinates
   c. Degree 3: responsible for supervision of four to nine subordinates
   d. Degree 4: responsible for development of annual operating budget

1 points   

QUESTION 10

1. In a point method of job evaluation, large pay range overlaps are preferred.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 11

1. Which term refers to the differences between the range midpoints of adjacent pay grades in a pay structure expressed by dollars?

   a. range spread
   b. broadbands
   c. split pay range
   d. intergrade differentials

1 points   

QUESTION 12

1. Which of the following best defines a benchmark job?

   a. It is a job in the firm's job evaluation system for which there is a good match in the labour market data.
   b. It is a job in the market data that matches a pay overlap.
   c. It is the job in the organization that has a regression line equal to (1) on the pay policy line.
   d. It is the job that is adjusted to the market line for the intended pay level.

1 points   

QUESTION 13

1. Mille, a human resource compensation specialist, determines that the correlation coefficient is nearly –1 (negative one) after calculating a straight regression line. What conclusion can Mille make based on this nearly perfect correlation coefficient?

   a. The lower the job evaluation points, the lower the pay
   b. The higher job evaluation points, the higher the pay.
   c. The higher the job evaluation points, the lower the pay.
   d. The nearly –1 (negative one) correlation coefficient implies that no change in the pay system is required.

1 points   

QUESTION 14

1. Your task is to persuade an executive to design a job evaluation system using the point method. What would be the focal point of your argument?

   a. The point method has a high degree of accuracy in measuring jobs.
   b. The point method includes performance management.
   c. The point method is simple to use.
   d. The point method is the only system recognized by employment equity legislation.

1 points   

QUESTION 15

1. The terms job evaluation and job analysis are interchangeable.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 16

1. One of the greatest benefits of using a point method of job evaluation is that it is statistically scientific.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 17

1. Which statement best defines range spread?

   a. It is the difference between the first and last pay broadband
   b. It is the difference between the range midpoints of adjacent pay grades in a pay structure, expressed in dollars.
   c. It is calculated by dividing the intergrade differential (expressed in dollars) of each pay grade by the midpoint (in dollars) of the previous pay grade
   d. It is the difference between the maximum and the minimum pay level, in dollars, for a given pay range.

1 points   

QUESTION 18

1. In order to establish a midpoint of the pay range you must first convert the market line into a pay line policy.

    True

    False

1 points   

QUESTION 19

1. Which of the following takes place once the job evaluation system has been finalized?

   a. compensable factors are weighed
   b. all jobs are scored
   c. factor degrees are analyzed
   d. factor weightings are measured

1 points   

QUESTION 20

1. What is a disadvantage of having very narrow pay grades?

   a. The only way for an employee to significantly increase their wages is through a promotion.
   b. It makes seniority systems redundant.
   c. The reliability of the pay grade is low.
   d. The internal stability of the pay grade is low.