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1. You have the following wage progression scale

HOUSEKEEPER

START 6 MOS 1 YEAR 2 YEARS 3 YEARS

3-1-19 9.00 9.50 10.00 10.50 11.00

3-1-20 9.50 10.00 10.50 11.00 11.50

3-1-21 10.00 10.50 11.00 11.50 12.00

LABORER

START 6 MOS 1 YEAR 2 YEARS 3 YEARS

3-1-19 9.50 10.00 10.50 11.00 11.50

3-1-20 10.00 10.50 11.00 11.50 12.00

3-1-21 10.50 11.00 11.50 ` 12.00 12.50

MAINTENANCE HELPER

START 6 MOS 1 YEAR 2 YEARS 3 YEARS

3-1-19 10.00 10.50 11.00 11.50 12.00

3-1-20 10.50 11.00 11.50 12.00 12.50

3-1-21 11.00 11.50 12.00 12.50 13.00

Employees are paid according to length of service with the company and classification on a calendar year basis without deduction for time off or proration. Joe is hired as a Housekeeper on 4-1-19 and is promoted to Laborer on 7-1-20 and to Maintenance Helper on 10-1-21. State the rate at hire and the wage changes and the dates thereof. (6 points) (Note: There may or may not be six rate changes.)

Solution: As mentioned in the question, to consider the length of service with the company and classification on calendar year basis, below are rate at hire and wage changes according to dates.

4-1-19 – 9.00 (just started as housekeeper)

10-1-19 -- 9.50 (housekeeper & 6 months length of service in company)

4-1-20 -- 10.50 (housekeeper & 1 year length of service in company)

7-1-20 -- 11.00 (promoted as Laborer & 1+ year length of service in company)

4-1-20 -- 12.00 (Laborer & 2 years length of service in company)

-3 MISSED 3-1 INCREASES

As mentioned in the question, to consider the length of service with the company and classification on calendar year basis, below are rate at hire and wage changes according to dates.

4-1-19 – 9.00 (just started as housekeeper)

10-1-19 -- 9.50 (housekeeper & 6 months length of service in company)

3-1-20 -- 10.00 (housekeeper & year start)

4-1-20 -- 10.50 (housekeeper & 1 year length of service in company)

7-1-20 -- 11.00 (promoted as Laborer & 1+ year length of service in company)

3-1-21 -- 11.50 (Laborer & year start)

4-1-21 -- 12.00 (Laborer & 2 years length of service in company)

10-1-21 -- 12.50 (promoted to maintenance helper & 2+ years of service)

2. You are head of the Maintenance Department in Greggysburg, Ohio. Employees are paid according to length of service with the City based on their date of hire and classification.

You have the following employees who each are compensated 500 hours per calendar quarter with the following dates of hire.

A 1-1-75

B 4-1-88

C 10-1-01

D 7-1-06

E 4-1-18 RED CIRCLED AT $ 14.25

F 7-1-18

G 10-1-19

Employees receive a longevity bonus of $ 1,500 on their 20th anniversary date. No additional bonus beyond fifteen years, just a bonus on their 20th anniversary date.

Employees earn vacation based on their length of service as of December 31st to be utilized in the following year as follows:

Less than 1 year no vacation

1 to 7 years 2 weeks

8 to 12 years 3 weeks

15+ years 4 weeks

Employees will take all of their vacation. When employees take vacation, their jobs are filled by agency temps, the agency is paid $ 600 for each week of vacation covered.

Employer contribution rates are as follow:

PERS 15%

UEC 3%

WC 2%

The 2020 and 2021 wage scales are as follows:

START 6 MONTHS 1 YEAR 2 YEARS 3 YEARS

2020 12.00 12.50 13.00 13.50 14.00

2021 12.50 13.00 13.50 14.00 14.50

2022 13.00 13.50 14.00 14.50 15.00

What is your budget for 2022? (24 points) SHOW ALL YOUR WORK.

Correction in question: in one place it says that longevity is after 15 years. That should be twenty.

Solution: Each employee works 500 hours per calendar quarter -> which means 2000 hours an year

Length of service by 2022 Pay

A 47 years $15.00

B 34 years $15.00

C 20+ years $15.00

D 15+ years $15.00

E 4 years $14.25

F 3+ years $15.00

G 2+ years $14.50

Pay for all employees = 30,000 (A-15.00*2000)+ 30,000 (B-15.00*2000)+ 30,000 (C-15.00*2000)+

30,000 (D-15.00*2000)+ 28,500 (E-14.25*2000)+ 30,000 (F-15.00*2000)+ 29,000 (G-14.50*2000)

= $207,500

Coming to Longevity bonus – no one completed 20 years in 2022. Employee C completed 20 years in 2021. S0, no longevity bonus is added for year 2022.

Vacation:

Less than 1 year – no employees

1-7 years – E, F, G employees – 2 weeks paid vacation

8-12 years – no employees

15+ years – A, B, C, D employees – 4 weeks paid vacation

Contract employees work these time periods at $600 a week.

Contract employees cost = 3,600 (3 employees*2 weeks*$600 per week)+ 9,600 (4 employees*4 weeks*$600 per week) = 13,200

Employer contribution rate = 20% (15% PERS + 3% UEC + 2% WC)

Total budget = (207,500 + 13,200 )*120/100 = 220,700*1.2 = $264,840

-8 E AND G ARE WRONG

1.2 DOES NOT APPLY TO AGENCY COVERAGE – THEY ARE NOT YOUR EMPLOYEES

Each employee works 500 hours per calendar quarter -> which means 2000 hours an year

Length of service by 2022 Pay

A 47 years $15.00

B 34 years $15.00

C 20+ years $15.00

D 15+ years $15.00

E 4 years $15.00

F 3+ years $15.00

G 2+ years $14.50 (till 10-1-2022) & $15 (for remaining year)

Pay for all employees = 30,000 (A-15.00*2000)+ 30,000 (B-15.00*2000)+ 30,000 (C-15.00*2000)+ 30,000 (D-15.00*2000)+ 30,000 (E-15*2000)+ 30,000 (F-15.00*2000)+ 29,187.5 (G-14.50*1625+15.00*375)

= $209,187.5

Coming to Longevity bonus – no one completed 20 years in 2022. Employee C completed 20 years in 2021. S0, no longevity bonus is added for year 2022.

Vacation:

Less than 1 year – no employees

1-7 years – E, F, G employees – 2 weeks paid vacation

8-12 years – no employees

15+ years – A, B, C, D employees – 4 weeks paid vacation

Contract employees work these time periods at $600 a week.

Contract employees cost = 3,600 (3 employees*2 weeks*$600 per week)+ 9,600 (4 employees*4 weeks*$600 per week) = 13,200

Employer contribution rate = 20% (15% PERS + 3% UEC + 2% WC)

Total budget of 2022= (209,187.5*120/100)+13,200 = 251,025+13,200 = $ 264,225

3. Explain the following terms: (2 points each)

EXEMPT EMPLOYEE: An exempt employee is an employee who does not receive overtime pay or qualify for the minimum wage. Exempt employees stand in contrast to nonexempt employees, who must be paid at least the minimum wage and overtime when they work more than the standard 40-hour workweek.

PREVAILING WAGE DETERMINATION: The prevailing wage for the enclosed occupations is determined by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) through surveys of wages paid in those occupations in neighboring areas, so that the wages reflect the local economy. The prevailing wage rate is defined the average wage paid to similarly employed workers in a specific occupation in the area of intended employment.

OUTSOURCING: Outsourcing is the business practice of hiring a party outside a company to perform services and create goods that traditionally were performed in-house by the company's own employees and staff. It is a practice usually undertaken by companies as a cost-cutting measure.

ATTRITION: The term attrition refers to a gradual but deliberate reduction in staff numbers that occurs as employees retire or resign or elimination or personal health reason and are not replaced. It is commonly used to describe downsizing in a firm's employee pool by human resources (HR) professionals.

PRIVATIZATION: Privatization occurs when a government-owned business, operation, or property becomes owned by a private, non-government party. Note that privatization also describes the transition of a company from being publicly traded to becoming privately held. This is referred to as corporate privatization.

CONVENIENCE DAY/CENSUS DAY SYSTEM: It is a system where certain employees are offered single shift layoffs based on seniority within a classification or if they negotiate within special units. This system allows people with low seniority to stay on the job without being laid off. It saves money and helps to prevent layoffs.

4. State several advantages to the employer to offer outplacement services to employees who are to be laid off. (4 points)

Outplacement Services: Can also be called as career transition services, are coaching programs that help separated employees land their next position faster. And these services are paid for by the employer to the existing employer.

Advantages of offering Outplacement Services:

· Increases Loyalty and Satisfaction. People are more likely to stay in the company because they know they already have a safety net.

· Employees are not afraid that they are going to lose their job.

· It may save on unemployment. Laid off employees find work quicker.

· Sometimes you have a part of a severance package where, you waive claims and agree not to disparage the company in return to these outplacement services.

· Maintains companies image.

· Reduces lawsuit claims.

5. State advantages to employers offering tuition reimbursement. (2 points)

Ans: Advantages to employers offering tuition reimbursement are listed below:

1. Employer can keep employee for long time. At least they can keep a person with employer until they graduate.

2. It helps employees enhance their skill sets and retain them back by offering promotions.

3. It attracts more quality candidates as they can grow and advance their career.

4. Employer can save some money on tax.

6. State four things you can do to decrease the chances of turnover where you have nothing to offer economically. (2 points each)

Ans: Below are the four things we need to do to decrease the chances of turnover.

1. We need to find somebody who shares the mission.

2. Treat them fairly.

3. Know them. It is possible to notice change in behavior like whether they are depressed or happy if we know them. And knowing their interests will help us cheer them and work actively.

4. Give them something worth having identity, friendship, or recognition for their work.

7. Times are tough and you want to reduce costs offering voluntary temporary layoffs. What terms and conditions should you establish? (5 points)

Voluntary temporary Layoffs – is when company reduces employees by allowing certain individuals to volunteer to be laid off. This Layoff do not need to comply with the 7 day notice period.

Terms and Conditions we establish for Voluntary Layoffs are:

· Are you going to retain the right to reject this Layoff as it is voluntary?

· Are you going to recall out of order?

· Are you going to retain the recall rights? And for how long do people retain recall?

· Can a person reject recall or are they just gone?

· What are the effects of this and how many times?

8. Explain the difference between bargaining unit seniority, departmental seniority and classification seniority. (3 points)

Ans: There are different type of seniority. They are

Bargaining unit seniority: This means how long you have been employed in a union classification i.e, length of unbroken employment since the date of hire.

Departmental seniority: This means how long you have been in that department i.e, length of service in that particular department.

Classification seniority: This means the length of continuous service since the employee’s promotion or appointment to a grade or classification.

9. Under your union contract employees have bargaining unit seniority, departmental seniority and classification seniority. What problems might there be if the contract language says, “If layoffs are necessary, such layoffs shall be by seniority”. (3 points)

Ans: As we saw above there are three different types of seniorities- bargaining unit seniority, departmental seniority and classification seniority.

And coming to layoffs, as mentioned in the question, “If layoffs are necessary, such layoffs shall be by seniority” which means least seniority employees are generally laid out first. But here we have some problems with layouts considering seniority.

Let’s consider example where 1st employee has 20-year employee with 1 week in department and 2nd employee is 1 year employee with 2 weeks in department. The biggest question who is to be laid off. If we consider in terms of Bargaining unit seniority, then 2nd employee will be laid off. But if we consider departmental seniority then 1st employee will be laid off. So, this is the problem with contract language.

10. Explain the difference between agreeing to re-hire a person, agreeing to reinstate a person and agreeing to consider reinstating a person. (8 points)

Ans: Difference between agreeing to re-hiring & reinstatement and considering reinstating a peron is as mentioned below.

Re-Hiring: when an employee is re-hired by employer below are the things he observe.

1. The Employee will be on new hire wage scale.

2. The Employee will be having new hire accumulation for vacation and PTO.

3. New Seniority rate (Restart Seniority)

4. Probationary. If that Employee committed crime need to obey law and be under supervision again.

Reinstatement: when an employee is reinstated then below is the case.

1. The Employee will be in same place on wage scale.

2. Same place in seniority.

3. Not probationary unless employee has some kind of agreed statement of performance improvement plan PIP / LCA.

4. Must address interim and back pay issues.

-2 WHAT DOES CONSIDER MEAN

Difference between agreeing to re-hiring and reinstatement is as mentioned below.

Re-Hiring: when an employee is re-hired by employer below are the things he observe.

5. The Employee will be on new hire wage scale.

6. The Employee will be having new hire accumulation for vacation and PTO.

7. New Seniority rate (Restart Seniority)

8. Probationary. If that Employee committed crime need to obey law and be under supervision again.

Reinstatement: when an employee is reinstated then below is the case.

5. The Employee will be in same place on wage scale.

6. Same place in seniority.

7. Not probationary unless employee has some kind of agreed statement of performance improvement plan PIP / LCA.

Must address interim and back pay issues.

Consider to Reinstatement: Let’s consider an example to explain this case.

For example, there is an employee with drug/alcohol problem and you suspended him for this reasons after a warning. And if you inform employee that you will reinstate him/her if you get over drug/alcohol problem then this is the case of considering instating the employee.

11. Describe a circumstance where it might be advisable to make an unconditional offer of reinstatement and explain the advantages to an employer of making an unconditional offer of reinstatement. (4 points)

Circumstances where it is advisable to make an unconditional offer of reinstatement in case of oops. This means some mistake or minor incident happened and even you had nothing to do with it or it is not done intentionally then it is recognized, and they take you back to work as an apology. Then this is where an unconditional offer of reinstatement comes into play. For example, when police lose evidence in case of a marijuana case by mistake (misplacing bags), it is not his mistake but still gets suspended and taken back because it not their mistake. Or in another case employees did not maintain good attendance, they offer an unconditional offer of reinstatement, and so on.

Advantages to an employer:

· It indicates good faith. It is reliable.

· It reduces damage to just that period.

· It discourages outside attorneys and unions from further action.

12. State have must be established to prove insubordination and give a scenario where it is established. (4 points)

Insubordination means refusal to obey orders. Here we are going to discuss insubordination. To prove insubordination, we need to have any of the below ones.

A clear order: You need to make sure the opposite party clearly understands that it is in order. For example, if I said do me a favor by doing this. Then they have a doubt that does me a favor by doing this an order. NO, it is not in order. I need to clearly mention and make sure they understand it is an order, so they can't refuse it.

A clear refusal: Here we need to make sure whether they are refusing to do it or it happened by mistake. For example, I say them, to go and get me tickets. They say ok, we will go get it. But due to circumstances, they couldn't get tickets. Here is it is not clear refusal. It happened due to circumstances intervene.

A clear statement of consequences: Here, this is an order and I want you to do it now and if you don't do it, it may come under insubordination, which is serious. For example, one head nurse told her employees to make reports ready and the employee rolled her eyes during that. Now head nurse wants to fire that employee for insubordination. But it is not insubordination.

13. What specific provisions should you have in an acknowledgment by an employee to make sure he remains an employee at will. (3 points)

Ans: To make sure your employees remain as employees at will have signed acknowledgment. And the specific provision you should have in this acknowledgement are

· Employee at will. People specifically sign the employee and will acknowledge.

· No promises have been made to get me to work.

· Can only be altered except in writing by a specific officer that will lock them again.

14. Explain the advantages to the employer of having an employee sign a Last Chance Agreement and the provisions that should be contained in such an agreement. (4 points)

Last Chance Agreement: It is an agreement between employer and an employee or union that gives employee who has committed serious misconduct one last chance to keep the employee’s job. It is important to document last chance agreement properly. It is necessary to include information regarding terms, duration, description of allegations, things both parties should not do and description of charges. All these details should be in an agreement.

Advantages of having Last Chance Agreement:

· Reduces chances of litigation from employee. He cannot take any legal action even if employer suspends him as it is already informed clearly by employer.

· Eliminate issues

· Employer reserve right to discharge employee for just cause

· Create a positive impression about company in other employees view as they gave last chance to the employee who committed mistake.

· Once you settled for a last chance agreement, there is no more issues of age, race, sex, color, creed, national origin or progressive discipline.

· Duration for meeting expectations. If not, employee will be suspended.

15. Explain using examples, “purging” and “drop back” provisions in progressive discipline policies. (4 points)

Ans: Lets discuss about “purging” and “drop back” below.

Purging: Here, Discipline becomes void after a period of time i.e., it goes away after a period of time.

For example, an employee committed a mistake on May 1, 2000, he got his first warning. In his case two years without discipline, his offense goes back a step. He again committed a mistake on May 2, 2002. As it is more than two years, he will be getting a warning again, but it is not a second warning, it will be the first warning again because it purges away after its mentioned period of time (2 years).

Drop back: Here discipline is treated as less serious after a period of time i.e., it drops back a step after a period.

For example, an employee committed time in 1986 for the first time. He got the first warning. He committed it again in 1995 after 9 years and got the second warning. Then he again commits it back in 2010 after 15 years. Now he cannot be suspended, because it makes no sense. He did not commit the crime for long period. The seriousness of his crime drops back with time.

16. A tow motor operator is found injured and unconscious next to his towmotor which has crashed. There is a broken bottle and alcohol spilled on the floor. Discuss issues relative to workers comp and what you will do to handle the matter. (This is both a WC and investigation question) (6 points)

Ans: Workers compensation - Amount of money employee receives few benefits including wages and future medical treatment, more. Moreover, worker's compensation (WC) generally varies by state i.e, it is different for different states.

Firstly to fight for WC, we must report injuries that result in the below cases.

· Medical treatment other than first aid

· loss of consciousness

· loss of one workday or more

· restriction of motion

· transfer from one job to another.

Here in our case, the tow motor operator is found injured and unconscious next to the tow motor which has crashed. Also, we found a broken bottle and alcohol spilled on the floor.

As the operator is injured and unconscious, the employee can't be neglected.

Here we need to first identify whether the operator is under influence of alcohol or not. If yes, then it will directly make him not eligible for WC. If not he will be eligible so we need to check it first.

In addition to that, we need to find whether there are any incidents same as this registered in the past few years. Be sure to note all incidents like this and find whose fault it is whether it is of employee or employer.

Next, we need to find which type of WC is our employee eligible for,

Medical only or temporary total or permanent total or permanent partial or wage loss.

The employee can get medical as he is injured (if he is not under alcohol usage). If this incident happened due to tow motor then the employee can also get a permanent total.

-4 INVESTIGATION ISSUES

Workers compensation - Amount of money employee receives few benefits including wages and future medical treatment, more. Moreover, worker's compensation (WC) generally varies by state i.e, it is different for different states.

Firstly to fight for WC, we must report injuries that result in the below cases.

· Medical treatment other than first aid

· loss of consciousness

· loss of one workday or more

· restriction of motion

· transfer from one job to another.

Investigation Process:

To analyze an issue first we need to investigate every single evidence available for us in the accident place. This helps us understanding the accident and deal with it. As mentioned in the question, there is an broken bottle and alcohol spilled on the floor. So, we need to find it is done by tow motor operator or it is there from before night. If it is done by tow operator, is he drunk while working or it happened by mistake. And as alcohol is spilled on floor whether the floor is slippery while operator is working or not. If yes, is this the reason for accident. Are there any issues like this before in organization or with tow motor. Or did this employee involve in any accidents before in the organization by negligence. Did accident happen while employee is working? Whether he has any medical problems before to consider? Is he following all the company's protocols and rules while working? If no, is reason for accident because he didn't follow protocols? Is employee eligible for any compensation? If yes, we need to find which type of WC our tow motor operator is eligible for like medical only or temporary total or permanent total or wage or anything else.

The employee can get medical as he is injured (if he is not under alcohol usage). If this incident happened due to tow motor then the employee can also get a permanent total.

17. You have fired an employee for excessive absenteeism. You have a no-fault attendance control policy. To attempt to excuse his absence, the employee brought in a doctor’s slip which you determined to be a fake. Explain the issues and all that you will do throughout the handling of his unemployment claim, including the appeal hearing. (8 points)

Excessive absenteeism is a condition where the employee is absent more than it creates a problem. It is not accepted in any company to apply excessive leaves without a valid reason. And there are many cases where the employee will be fired due to excessive absenteeism.

Absenteeism is accepted in case of sick or injured or do not want to work conditions.

A no-fault attendance control policy is what depends on incidents and not the number of days.

If an employee has a broken leg then the employee is allowed to be on leave till he/she gets discharged without counting the number of days.

FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) and WC (Workers Compensation) will not be applicable in this case.

Here they consider the rolling year and not total events. Else everyone will be fired eventually.

In this case, the Employee bought in a doctor's slip which I determined to be a fake.

The first thing we do when we find it fake is to do defending by asking several questions. Like what is the real reason for him to be absent.

We need to ask employees to submit proof and verify it is right or not. If right then it is ok else submit the evidence to counsel and ask for a hearing. Do not ask what the referee has asked.

Keep the closing statement very brief. Although you have a no-fault attendance control policy, the employee should not submit fake reports. That is the reason employees can be fired.

An employee might submit fake documents for getting medical claims. But before we grant it to employees it is important to verify and take action on the employee.

-4 MORE ABOUT THE PROCESS

A no-fault attendance control policy is what depends on incidents and not the number of days. If an employee has a broken leg then the employee is allowed to be on leave till he/she gets discharged without counting the number of days.

FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) and WC (Workers Compensation) will not be applicable in this case. Here they consider the rolling year and not total events. Else everyone will be fired eventually.

In this case, the Employee bought in a doctor's slip which I determined to be a fake. The first thing we do when we find it fake is to do defending by asking several questions. Like what is the real reason for him to be absent. We need to ask employees to submit proof and verify it is right or not. If right then it is ok else submit the evidence to counsel and ask for a hearing. Do not ask what the referee has asked.

Keep the closing statement very brief. Although you have a no-fault attendance control policy, the employee should not submit fake reports. That is the reason employees can be fired. An employee might submit fake documents for getting medical claims. But before we grant it to employees it is important to verify and take action on the employee.

Process of handling unemployment claim: We will be conducting this case in below way.

Firstly, we need to ask question regarding this case. To be sure to allege just cause. Whether it is due to absenteeism or anything else. And to make sure to not violate organizations rules.

Next submit evidence including documents that support this claim.

Request for administrator's file.

After that hearing starts. No opening statement. It is in european style where referee asks and you ask. Hear say obejectinable if not in file. Do not re-ask what refree asked.

Closing statement should be kept brief.

18. Describe the advantages to the employer of converting from a traditional vacation/holiday/sick day system to a PTO system. (4 points)

Advantages to the employer of converting from traditional holidays to PTO are,

· Reducing unscheduled absences

· Reducing costs and productivity losses associated with them.

· Saves money but employees doesn’t notice.

· PTO can be touted as a benefit to assist in recruiting efforts.

· Employees no longer have to make excuses when they want to use sick day.

· Avoids stigma of layoffs.

19. Describe the process and the advantages to the employer of a “convenience day” or “census day” system in a hospital. (6 points)

Convenience day system: is a system where you offer single shift layoffs by seniority within the classification.

Advantages:

· Saves money

· Reduces layoffs

· Keep low seniority people with out losing their jobs

· Schedules leaves

These are used in hospitals and its works anywhere, works anywhere where you demand goes up and down. And you might want to send somebody home. The old system is layoffs. As we know, the hospital would say, we don’t need 3 nurses, 3 LP hands in the surgical suite cause we don’t have any surgery. So we are going to send them home. Layoffs are by seniority. Those are not the least LP ends of the hospital. We don’t need people on third shift. So we send them home. Union says on the next shift, last senior which means you should have sent a person home from different ship. So, the next round of negotiations, the unions agreed to the convenience day system.

20. You decide to provide benefits to employees based on hours. Which of the following would be best to use to define eligibility and why? (4 points)

Hours worked

Average hours worked

Regularly scheduled working hours

Here, Hours worked is total number of hours worked by employee during a period of time. We can understand Average hours worked is the average number of hours worked during a period of time by its name. Regularly scheduled working hours are the number of hours employee is generally scheduled for without including extra hours worked by employee.

Now we need to set up a system that provides benefits based on hours. To define eligibility, the best one to use in the above 3 mentioned is regularly scheduled working hours compare to working hours and average working hours. Because regularly scheduled working hours avoid employees going on and off coverage from week to week. They will make sure they are available at during those regularly scheduled working hours.

21. Explain the difference between paying for a person for a task as: (3 points)

A classification: The person is paid on all hours worked. Overtime (O.T.) is also compensated.

A bonus: The pay of a person is calculated with reference to the mission and how long it might take. It can be once or annual.

A differential: The rate is paid to the person only when doing that particular duty or task.

22. Define and explain: (2 points each)

The Davis-Bacon Act

The Service Contract Act

Davis-Bacon Act:

It is a Federal Law. It establishes the requirement for paying the local prevailing wages on public/government works projects for laborers and mechanics. The prevailing wage is generally determined by the cost of wages and benefits for that classification.

Service Contract Act:

It is a US labor law. It says government to use bargaining power to ensure fair wages for workers when it buys service from private contractors. In government service contracts, they must pay compensation equal to prevailing wage to employees. You have the following in a union contract.

23. You have the following in a union contract:

HOUSEKEEPING

START 6 mos 1 YR 2 YRS 3 YRS 4 YRS

1-1-21 8 9 10 11 12 13 1-1-22 9 10 11 12 13 14 1-1-23 10 11 12 13 14 15

LABORER

START 6 mos 1 YR 2 YRS 3 YRS 4 YRS

1-1-21 8.50 9.50 10.50 11.50 12.50 13.50 1-1-22 9.50 10.50 11.50 12.50 13.50 14.50 1-1-23 10.50 11.50 12.50 13.50 14.50 15.50

MAINTENANCE HELPER

START 6 mos 1 YEAR 2 YEARS 3 YEARS 4 YRS

1-1-21 9 10 11 12 13 14 1-1-22 10 11 12 13 14 15 1-1-23 11 12 13 14 15 16

State all you will need to ask to understand how the system works. (6 points) (There may or may not be six questions to ask)

Ans. Questions we ask to understand how system works are as below:

· what happens on promotion, demotion and bumped down?

· Do I stay there until I have a year in that classification?

· Do I just naturally proceed based on my data higher on the old classification?

· What if you cover extra cost by having somebody else?

· Do classification work at it (extra cost, vacation or more) over time?

· What happends you go from grade 1 to grade 3 or grade 2 to grade 1 and more?

· what about if you are in placement or red circling?

· what about temporary transfers?

-3 MISSED A FEW

Questions we ask to understand how system works are as below:

· Ask how length of service is calculated?

· Date of Hiring with employer?

· Date of Hiring with Classification?

· Should we not count gaps for LOA (Leave of Absence), LO (Layoff) or we should?

· Are we counting by hours or days worked?

· what happens on promotion, demotion and bumped down?

· Do I stay there until I have a year in that classification?

· Do I just naturally proceed based on my data higher on the old classification?

· What if you cover extra cost by having somebody else?

· Do classification work at it (extra cost, vacation or more) over time?

· What happens you go from grade 1 to grade 3 or grade 2 to grade 1 and more?

· what about if you are in placement or red circling?

· what about temporary transfers?

· What happens once you move from that position?

24. You have a band system as follows:

Band 1 11-13

Band 2 12-14

Band 3 13-15

Band 4 17-20

You have the following employees:

A BAND 1 10.50

B BAND 1 12.50

C BAND 2 14.00

D BAND 2 12.50

E BAND 3 14.00

F BAND 4 17.50

What are the new rates for the employees? (1 point each)

Correction in Question: You are to calculate the rates if the band is increased by 10%

Sol: After considering the increase in band by 10%, below are the new rates for each band.

Band 1 : 12.10 – 14.30

Band 2 : 13.20 – 15.40

Band 3 : 14.30 – 16.50

Band 4 : 18.70 – 22.00

So, after considering the increase in band rates, new rates of employees is as below.

A BAND 1 12.10

B BAND 1 12.50

C BAND 2 14.00

D BAND 2 13.20

E BAND 3 14.30

F BAND 4 18.70

25. State an advantage of a Step System over a wage progression scale system for an employer) 2 points)

Ans: The step system is mostly used in public employment, and these steps may not be defined by specific lengths of service. Whereas in the wage progression scale system, scales are based on length of service ( like after 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and more). Step systems are like wage progressive scale. But the advantage of the Step system is the employer can hire employees at any step depending on qualification, experience, market, and other factors. And the increment in salary is not complex for all employees as in wage progressive scale.

26. State some advantages to employers of hiring older workers. (3 points)

Ans: Advantages of hiring older workers are:

· They probably want part time and are available.

· Many want to be there for socialization.

· They already have health care. They will be having Medicare.

· Older Employees tend to be more reliable and on-time as they have nothing else to do.

· They have no children at home to take care of.

· Older Employees are willing to be the sent home first when we have less work.

27. Describe the following: (3 points)

Shadowing

Guided Shadowing

Mentoring

Shadowing, Guided Shadowing and Mentoring are different job training techniques. To discuss in detail about these techniques,

· Shadowing – is where you follow and observe someone closely to gain a better understanding of the role.

· Guided Shadowing – is where you follow and observe someone closely and they will explain you what they are doing to gain an insight into that particular work area.

· Mentoring – is where someone who is already working will train and assist you about specific job role and its responsibilities.

28. You want to set up eight hours of training for 30 employees. Describe all that you will do and what you will consider in setting up the training. (10 points)

When we recruit new employees or change existing employees from one department to another, it is necessary to train them because they need to know about the role and goal of that role. The main objective of designing training is to mention everything related and important to that job to employees.

So when considering a training program, we need to ask these three questions.

What is the mission? It is essential for every employee who is going to work on that role needs to know the objective of that role.

who needs to be trained? Training will be better if we need who are going to be trained. Because training might differ based on whether they are new employees or existing employees in the company and whether they are freshers or experienced employees and more.

what is the cost of training? This is another factor to consider. Where their training is going to happen, who is going to train them, Is training going to be in groups and more. All these affect the cost of training.

Coming to the training process, steps included in the training process are,

· Know your people. It helps us to understand better who would be qualified and interested in being taught. And also what is the best way to teach you, people.

· Analyze the training need. What trainees need to know. Maybe different people need different types of training methods.

· Determine the cost-benefit. The training we are going to set should be cost and mission effective and it should be a benefit for the organization. Develop training if it is cost-effective.

· Implement the developed training.

· Evaluate the effectiveness of the training.

It is equally important to have good HR who can supervise this training process. Also, employees need to have specialty training on sexual harassment, diversity, and more.

-3 NEED TO BE MORE SPECIFIC ON MECHANICS OF TRAINING

So when considering a training program, we need to ask these three questions.

What is the mission? It is essential for every employee who is going to work on that role needs to know the objective of that role.

Coming to the training process, steps included in the training process are,

· Know your people. It helps us to understand better who would be qualified and interested in being taught. And also what is the best way to teach you, people.

· Analyze the training need. What trainees need to know. Maybe different people need different types of training methods. Also conduct work analysis to determine the knowledge or skills that trainee's need to acquire to do given work.

· Determine the cost-benefit. The training we are going to set should be cost and mission effective and it should be a benefit for the organization. Develop training if it is cost-effective.

· Implement the developed training. Find whether all are involved in it or not. Whether everyone is able to get along with it or not?

· Evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Like find whether employee will be able to complete the tasks or their works after this training. Will they acquire all skills required?

It is equally important to have good HR who can supervise this training process. Also, employees need to have specialty training on sexual harassment, diversity, and more.

29. You are Head of HR for a private company and there have been thefts from the warehouse. The CEO want three people subjected to a polygraph test. A warehouse employee, a security guard who patrols the property, including the warehouse and a clerk on HR who is a friend of the warehouse employee. Explain what you will tell the CEO about who he can polygraph, how the polygraph must be conducted and what can be done based on the employees reactions to the polygraph and the results. (8 points)

Polygraph test also called lie detector test, is a device designed to pick up micro tremors and pauses in speech and can indicate deception. As per the above theft issue, the CEO wants to conduct a polygraph test. As HR it is necessary to communicate to CEO that in private organizations there is an utmost limit on the use of polygraphs.

To do a polygraph, as per Employee Polygraph Protection Act it is important to follow the below rules.

· You need to have an ongoing investigation.

· Employees you are planning to polygraph must have had access to missing items.

· You cannot fire the employee for refusing the claim.

· You cannot fire the employee for failing it.

· You need to ask only relevant questions to claim in the polygraph.

· You must give subjects questions in advance.

· You must take 90 minutes to do a polygraph.

So, from the above rules, we can say the clerk cannot be involved in polygraphs because the clerk doesn't have access to the warehouse.

Coming to the point of how the polygraph must be conducted, you need to ask only relevant questions, give questions to the subject in advance and this process should be only 90 minutes.

And finally, what can be done based on the employee's reaction, we cannot fire the subject for refusing a claim or failing in polygraph until they are proven guilty. Because there are some problems with polygraph. They can be admissible, they can be pathological liars, if they respond to the accusation, they can be nervous and subjective. All these factors should be considered before acting upon this claim.

30. You are a large company and a female employee who has worked for you over a year at 20 hours a week want pregnancy leave. You have a disability leave provision which grants up to 90 days for disability. Discuss what types of leave must be granted and for what periods of time. (4 points)

In the above case, under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, you must grant pregnancy leave during that period that the person with the disability will be granted. So if a disabled person gets 90 days of leave, even the female employee is not disabled but pregnant should be given 90 days of leave. If the company has a pregnancy leave provision, then the pregnant employee is given leaves as mentioned in it.

There's also FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act). The person is entitled to leave for pregnancy, but not everybody qualifies. You have to have been there all year. You have to have worked 1250 hours in the prior year. Which are 24 hours a week. Here our employee worked for only 20 hours a week which is less than 1250 hours. So, this employee is not eligible for this type of leave.

If you have pregnancy leave included in the union contract, then you are eligible to take pregnancy leave as per the term mentioned in the union contract.

-2 MUST BE DISABLED BY PREGNANCY

In the above case, under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, you must grant pregnancy leave during that period that the person with the disability will be granted. If Employer gives disability or unpaid leaves to employee’s who are temporarily disabled then they must also allow female employees who are temporarily disabled due to pregnancy to take this leave. So, if a disabled person gets 90 days of leave, even the female employee is disabled with pregnancy should be given 90 days of leave. If the company has a pregnancy leave provision, then the pregnant employee is given leaves as mentioned in it.

If you have pregnancy leave included in the union contract, then you are eligible to take pregnancy leave as per the term mentioned in the union contract.