HRCI PHR Exam Questions

Correct answer: Long-term vs. short-term orientation

The components of Geert Hofstede's global factors of culture are long-term vs. short-term orientation, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance.

The incorrect answers are fabricated terms.

Correct answer: Utility patents

A patent allows inventors exclusive rights to the benefits of an invention for a defined period of time. Patent laws in the United States define three types of patents:

1. Design patent: A design patent is limited to 14 years and protects the design of a functional item - the visual qualities.
2. Utility patent: A utility patent is limited to 20 years and protects a new or improved product, process, or machine. This is also known as the "patent for invention" as it protects the way an item is used and works.
3. Plant patent: A plant patent is limited to 20 years and protects people who have created or discovered new and distinct, asexually propagated plants.

We all have biases, whether conscious or unconscious. Therefore, as interviewers, we must be aware of potential biases, which will help reduce their impact on the selection process. Below is a list of common biases associated with the recruitment process.

• Average/central tendency: The interviewer has difficulty deciding which candidate is the best, therefore, rates all in the middle or average.
• Contrast: Candidates are compared to a single candidate; therefore, they may appear more or less qualified depending on the comparison candidate.
• Cultural noise: When candidates answer questions based on information they think will get them the job (what they think the interviewer wants). The candidate is basing their answer on the interviewer's presentation of information, and the interviewer does not know that the candidate is tailoring their answer to satisfy their requirements.
• First impression: When people are influenced by the first piece of information they are exposed to about the candidate and are biased in evaluating subsequent information based on that initial information or impression.
• Gut feeling: Intuition, or gut feeling, is commonly defined as a decision we make without conscious reasoning.
• Halo effect: When our overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about their character. Essentially, your overall impression of a person impacts the evaluations of that person's specific traits.
• Harshness/horn effect: When one's perception of another is unduly influenced by a single negative trait.
• Knowledge-of-predictor: When the interviewer knows that a candidate scored particularly high or low on an assessment test.
• Leniency: When an interviewer tends to go easy on a candidate, giving a higher rating than is warranted.
• Negative emphasis: When an interviewer judges a candidate based on personal, irrelevant preferences, such as height, size, tone of voice, or hairstyle.
• Nonverbal bias: When the interviewer is influenced by nonverbal communication/body language.
• Question inconsistency: When candidates are asked different interview questions.
• Recency: When the interviewer recalls the most recently interviewed candidate more clearly than earlier candidates.
• Similar-to-me: When the candidate's interests or characteristics align with those of the interviewer, the interviewer may overlook negative traits.
• Stereotyping: When the interviewer assumes the candidate has specific traits because they are a member of a specific group.

The misclassification of an employee as an independent contractor can result in financial risk to employers. As a result, HR professionals must be aware of IRS guidance and regulations on this topic. While there continues to be guidance, the IRS has identified three factors employers should evaluate to assist in determining the correct classification. These factors include:

1. Behavioral - Who controls the behavior of the individual such as where and how the work is done?
2. Financial - Is the employer or the individual responsible for costs associated with the work such as tools/supplies, etc.?
3. Type of Relationship - Is the individual offered benefits commonly available to employees such as paid time off, insurance, etc.?

When negotiating during the collective-bargaining process, there are four subject areas which include:

1. Mandatory subjects - Mandatory subjects are defined by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) as issues that must be addressed in the collective bargaining process. These subjects include wages, hours, overtime, seniority, grievance process, etc.
2. Illegal subject - The NLRA also defined subjects that should not be included in a collective bargaining agreement. These subjects include hot-cargo clauses, closed shop security agreements, and concerted activity of employees.
3. Voluntary/permissive subjects - This includes any other subject not required as mandatory, or prohibited by the NLRA. This could include dress codes, recording of collective bargaining sessions, management rights, scheduling, promotions, etc.

Correct answer: Federal taskings

There are the three types of administrative law that impact employment relationships:

• Agency rules: Legislation empowers federal agencies to develop enforcement regulations. Rules and regulations are developed by an agency and are published in the Federal Register. The public has the opportunity to comment and once this comment period is complete, the agency publishes final rules.
• Agency regulations: Certain federal agencies have the authority to order compliance with federal laws in administrative law courts. These orders have the effect of law and are often published in the Federal Register.
• Executive orders: EOs are rules or order issued by the President to an executive branch of the government and having the force of law.

Correct answer: The U.S. President

Executive orders are proclamations that are made by the U.S. President and become law after 30 days.

Correct answer: Ishikawa diagram

Total quality management (TQM) is the continual process of detecting and reducing or eliminating errors in manufacturing, streamlining supply chain management, improving the customer experience, and ensuring that employees are up to speed with training. TQM is a process that focuses all resources in the organization on providing value for customers.

The TQM movement has seen the development of many tools that have proved to be beneficial aids in the workplace, and each of the answer choices represents tools developed by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa.

The correct answer to this question is the one that bears its creator's name, the Ishikawa diagram. Also referred to as a cause and effect chart or a fishbone diagram, this tool is used to aid in brainstorming sessions. The name fishbone diagram refers to the shape that takes form when using this tool.

Correct answer: Artifacts

The three factors that contribute to workplace culture, according to Edgar Schein's model, are artifacts (tangible elements of culture that can be seen, felt, or heard), assumed values (informally communicated values that employees assume and attribute to the company based on company actions and behaviors), and values (the values that a company claims to have and publicizes).

The incorrect answers are not elements of Edgar Schein's workplace culture model.

Correct answer: Identifying the need for training and using it as a training benchmark

The best way to improve training outcomes is by identifying the need for training and using it as a training benchmark. This is because understanding the need for the training helps improve participant motivation, engagement and satisfaction. Designing and evaluating the training against the needed outcomes also ensures that the training produces the best ROI. 

A post-test and satisfaction survey might help with improving the design of the training and might improve future training outcomes, but it would not help with the initial training outcomes. An experienced facilitator is not necessary for a training to be effective. Using a flipped classroom can improve participant engagement but does not necessarily improve outcomes. 

Correct answer: All public and private employers

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) is a Federal law that establishes rights and responsibilities for uniformed Service members and their civilian employers.

USERRA is intended to ensure that persons who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, Reserve, National Guard, or other uniformed Services:

1. are not disadvantaged in their civilian careers because of their service;
2. are promptly reemployed in their civilian jobs upon their return from duty; and
3. are not discriminated against in employment based on past, present, or future military service. USERRA applies to all public and private employers in the United States, including the federal government, regardless of size, and members of all uniformed services are covered.

Correct answer: Prohibited pay discrimination based on ethnicity

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 created a minimum wage for all covered employees, identified the criteria for determining what jobs are exempt from FLSA requirements, and placed limitations on working conditions for children, but did not prohibit pay discrimination based on ethnicity.

The FLSA provides guidelines on employment status, child labor, minimum wage, overtime pay, and record-keeping requirements. It determines which employees are exempt from the Act (not covered by it) and which are non-exempt (covered by the Act). It establishes wage and time requirements when minors can work. It sets the minimum wage that must be paid, and mandates when overtime must be paid.

Correct answer: Destruction

Knowledge management (KM) is defined as the process by which organizations create, share, use, and manage their internal organizational knowledge. Organizations use a variety of methods to retain institutionalize knowledge so it's easily accessible for improving processes and increasing profits. These methods can be categorized in one of the following ways: Expert Registers, Best-Practice Standards, After-Action Evaluations, Communities of Practice, Technology Solutions, and Knowledge Management Systems.

Correct answer: Career mapping

Career mapping is when people within in an organization are given trajectories and expected growth patterns.

Employee involvement strategies include technology, delegating authority, and task forces.

Correct answer: The number of languages spoken in the perspective host countries

The four factors used to make decisions on global expansion include:

1. The stages of development of the business and how much of an international presence they already have
2. The amount of multi-country coordination required to integrate successfully
3. The types and extents of political, social, economic and labor influences of the prospective host countries
4. The complexity of the business's products, services and business structure.

Correct answer: No less than 45 days

The Older Worker Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) is an amendment that was added to the ADEA in 1990 to protect the benefit plans of older workers. If a group of employee wants to waive their rights to the act, they will have 45 days to review the agreement provided by the employer.

Correct answer: Systems thinking

Peter Senge identified five disciplines that support the organization's ability to achieve strategic goals, promote innovation and creative ideas, and encourage a culture of continuous learning. These disciplines are as follows:

• Systems Thinking: The organization's or individual's ability to identify and isolate parts of an organizational process to forecast the impact that changes would have on the outcome.
• Personal Mastery: Personal mastery is a set of specific principles and practices that enables a person to learn, create a personal vision, and view the world objectively.
• Mental Models: Mental models describe the framework for which we view the world based on biases and assumptions.
• Building a Shared Vision: Building a shared vision enables the organization to build a sense of commitment in order to plan for the future and develop strategies to get there.
• Team Learning: Team learning happens when teams begin thinking and working together to achieve goals and develop ideas.

Correct answer: 180 days from filing

Employers are prevented from taking unfavorable employment actions against employees as a result of the employee filing an allegation against the employer. This is part of a wider set of requirements known as whistleblower protections. Enforcement of whistleblower protections is delegated to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA prohibits employers from taking any adverse employment actions as a result of an employee providing, participating, or assisting in an investigations of mail, wire, bank, securities fraud, or violations of SEC regulations or other related federal laws. Adverse employment actions include laying off or terminating, demoting, blacklisting, denying benefits, failing to hire or rehire, intimidating, reassigning, reducing hours or pay, disciplining, or others.

If an employee feels their employment status was unlawfully affected due to their filing an allegation, they can file a complaint. This complaint must be filed within 180 days of the retaliatory action and include several pieces of information such as the employee's name, the company name, and prima facie evidence of the violation. OSHA does not issue a final order within 180 days of filing, the employee may file suit in a U.S. district court.

To be considered a prima facie violation, the following four elements must be included:

• The employee was engaged in protected activity.
• The employer knew or suspected that the employee was engaged in the protected activity.
• The employee suffered an unfavorable employment action.
• Sufficient circumstances existed to imply that a contributing factor to the unfavorable action was the employee’s participation in the protected activity.

Correct answer: True

It is appropriate to ask a candidate if they are able to work on the weekends as the job requires it. It would not be appropriate if the candidate is asked if working on the weekends would interfere with their religion.

Correct answer: 200,000

One useful metric in measuring program effectiveness is OSHA's recordable case rate formula. This can be used to calculate the incidence rate of ergonomic injuries before the program is implemented; and by taking periodic measures as the program progresses, any reduction in injuries can be determined and monitored. The recordable case rate formula uses a base of 100 full-time employees working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year, or 200,000 hours.