aPHR compliance and risk management, entry level

Lantern Events hires a worker for a two-day festival job. By when must the employer examine her documents and complete Section 2 of Form I-9?

1. By the end of her first day of work
   When employment lasts less than three business days, Section 2 must be completed by the end of the first day of work, which is the time of hire.
2. Within three business days of her first day
   Three business days is the usual deadline, but it does not apply to jobs shorter than three business days.
3. No Form I-9 is needed for a two-day job
   Short-term hires still need Form I-9.
4. Within 30 days of her first day
   30 days is not an I-9 deadline.

Which single document, if unexpired, proves both identity and employment authorization for Form I-9?

1. A school ID card with a photo
   A school ID with a photograph is a List B document: identity only.
2. A state driver's license
   A driver's license is a List B document: it proves identity only.
3. A Social Security card
   An unrestricted Social Security card is a List C document: it proves work authorization only.
4. A U.S. passport
   A U.S. passport is a List A document, which establishes both identity and employment authorization on its own.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to private employers with at least how many employees?

1. 20
   20 employees is the coverage threshold for the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and also for COBRA.
2. 50
   50 employees is the threshold for FMLA coverage and ACA applicable large employer status, not Title VII.
3. 15
   Title VII covers employers with 15 or more employees for each working day in 20 or more weeks of the current or preceding year.
4. 100
   100 employees is the WARN Act threshold and the EEO-1 reporting threshold, not Title VII coverage.

Which characteristic is protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

1. National origin
   Title VII prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
2. Genetic information
   Genetic information is protected by GINA, not by Title VII.
3. Disability
   Disability is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, not by Title VII.
4. Age
   Age is protected by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, not by Title VII.

A graphic designer employed by Corwin Media creates a training video as part of her regular job duties. Absent a signed written agreement saying otherwise, who owns the copyright?

1. The employees who appear in the video
   Appearing in a video does not give someone copyright ownership of it.
2. The designer, as the person who made it
   For a work made for hire, the law treats the employer, not the employee, as the author.
3. No one; training videos are in the public domain
   Training videos are protected by copyright like other original works.
4. Corwin Media, the employer
   A work an employee creates within the scope of employment is a work made for hire, and the employer is treated as its author and owner.

In a dispute between Halden Foods and its union, a neutral third party helps both sides talk and find their own settlement but has no power to impose a decision. What is this process?

1. Litigation
   Litigation is a lawsuit decided by a court.
2. Arbitration
   In arbitration, the neutral hears both sides and issues a decision, usually binding.
3. Mediation
   In mediation, a neutral helps the parties reach their own agreement; the mediator cannot impose a decision.
4. Fact-finding
   Fact-finding has a neutral issue findings and recommendations after a hearing, not facilitate talks.

What is the current federal minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act?

1. $10.10 per hour
   $10.10 was a minimum for certain federal contract workers, not the FLSA minimum wage.
2. $7.25 per hour
   The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since July 24, 2009; many states and cities set higher rates.
3. $2.13 per hour
   $2.13 is the minimum cash wage for tipped employees when the employer takes a tip credit.
4. $15.00 per hour
   $15.00 is a common state or local minimum, not the federal FLSA rate.

Under the Equal Pay Act, which reason can lawfully explain why a man and a woman doing equal work are paid differently?

1. Customer preference for male sales staff
   Customer preference based on sex is not a lawful factor other than sex.
2. Lower expected turnover among men
   A sex-based assumption about turnover is not a lawful factor.
3. The belief that men support their families
   Pay based on assumptions about sex roles is sex-based pay, which the EPA prohibits.
4. A seniority system applied the same way to both
   The EPA allows differences based on seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production, or a factor other than sex.

A former employee elects COBRA continuation coverage. What coverage must the plan provide?

1. The same coverage active employees in her group have
   COBRA coverage must be identical to the coverage provided to similarly situated active participants.
2. Any individual policy the employer picks
   COBRA continues the group plan itself; the employer cannot substitute an individual policy.
3. A basic plan with hospital coverage only
   The plan cannot reduce COBRA beneficiaries to a stripped-down plan.
4. Coverage for the former employee but not dependents
   Covered dependents can be qualified beneficiaries with their own COBRA rights.

Under federal COBRA, what is the most a plan can generally charge a qualified beneficiary for continuation coverage?

1. The employee's active rate
   The plan may charge the full cost plus 2%, not just the share an active employee pays.
2. 102% of the plan's cost
   COBRA premiums may not exceed 102% of the applicable premium: the full cost plus a 2% administrative charge.
3. 50% of the plan's cost
   The employer is not required to pay any of the COBRA premium; the beneficiary can be charged the full cost.
4. 110% of the plan's cost
   COBRA caps the general premium at 102%; 110% is not a COBRA figure.

An employee completes a 2-week National Guard training period on Saturday. Under USERRA, when must he report back to work?

1. Within 90 days after completing his service
   90 days applies to service of more than 180 days.
2. Whenever he chooses within the next 30 days
   USERRA sets a specific reporting rule; there is no open 30-day window.
3. Within 14 days after completing his service
   14 days applies to service of 31 to 180 days.
4. At his first full scheduled shift after an 8-hour rest
   For service under 31 days, the employee reports at the first full regularly scheduled work period after safe travel home plus eight hours of rest.

Under the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility rules, an employer is an 'applicable large employer' if it averaged how many full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, in the prior year?

1. 20 or more
   20 employees is the COBRA threshold, not the ACA ALE threshold.
2. 50 or more
   An employer with an average of 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, in the prior year is an ALE.
3. 100 or more
   100 is the WARN Act threshold; the ALE threshold is 50.
4. 15 or more
   15 employees is the Title VII threshold.

Under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard, how must an employer handle safety data sheets for the hazardous chemicals used in its workplace?

1. Mail a copy to OSHA each year
   There is no annual mailing requirement; the sheets must be available in the workplace.
2. Keep them locked in the HR director's office at all times
   Locking sheets away defeats the requirement that they be readily accessible.
3. Keep them readily accessible to employees on each shift
   Employers must keep a safety data sheet for each hazardous chemical and make it readily accessible to employees during each work shift.
4. Provide them only when an employee is injured
   Access is required at all times during each shift, not only after an injury.

Under the Drug-Free Workplace Act, an employee working on a covered federal contract is convicted of a drug offense that occurred at work. Within how many days must the employee notify the employer?

1. 10 days
   10 days is the employer's deadline to notify the contracting agency after learning of the conviction.
2. 30 days
   30 days is not the employee notice deadline.
3. 5 days
   Employees must notify the employer of a criminal drug conviction for a workplace violation no later than 5 days after the conviction.
4. 3 days
   3 days is shorter than the 5 days the Act allows.

Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower protection applies mainly to employees of which kind of employer?

1. A company with stock traded on a U.S. exchange
   SOX Section 806 protects employees of publicly traded companies (and their contractors and agents) who report fraud.
2. A city government's parks and recreation department
   Government agencies are not covered by SOX Section 806.
3. A family-owned private bakery
   A privately held company with no registered securities is generally outside SOX whistleblower coverage.
4. A small nonprofit community theater
   Nonprofits generally do not issue publicly traded securities, so SOX 806 does not cover them.

What is the main purpose of a designated assembly area in an emergency evacuation plan?

1. To shelter employees indoors during a tornado warning
   Sheltering indoors is the job of a shelter-in-place area; an assembly area is outside, after evacuation.
2. To take a headcount of employees after evacuating
   An assembly area lets supervisors take a headcount and spot anyone missing.
3. To store emergency equipment and supplies
   Equipment is kept in marked locations; the assembly area is for people.
4. To give fire crews a staging area for their trucks
   First-responder staging is planned separately and kept clear of the employee assembly area.

Cobalt Industries sells its consumer electronics division to another company so it can focus on industrial products. What type of restructuring is this?

1. Furlough
   A furlough is temporary unpaid leave for employees.
2. Divestiture
   A divestiture sells or spins off part of a business.
3. Merger
   A merger combines two companies into one.
4. Acquisition
   An acquisition is one company buying another; Cobalt is the seller here.

Which federal law amended Title VII so that discrimination because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions counts as sex discrimination?

1. Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
   The FMLA provides job-protected unpaid leave; it did not define pregnancy discrimination as sex discrimination.
2. Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
   The PDA amended Title VII so that discrimination because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions is sex discrimination.
3. Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022
   The PWFA (enacted December 2022, effective June 27, 2023) requires reasonable accommodation of known pregnancy-related limitations; it is the 1978 PDA that made pregnancy discrimination sex discrimination under Title VII.
4. Equal Pay Act of 1963
   The Equal Pay Act bars sex-based pay differences for equal work; it does not address pregnancy.