Chapter 12 – Dealing with Union and Employee–Management Issues
288. According to Sandra Timmermann, Director of Met Life’s Mature Market Institute, the
key job-related issue of the next decade will be:
A. child care.
B. continuing education.
C. sexual harassment.
D. elder care.
289. It is estimated that firms lose ___________ annually in productivity, absenteeism, and
employee turnover due to caring for aging parents.
A. $42 million
B. $10 thousand
C. $35 billion
D. a decreasing amount
290. Drug problems among workers is costing the U.S. economy upwards of ______ in lost
work, health care costs, and even crime and accidents.
A. $100 million
B. $50 billion
C. $414 billion
D. $50 thousand
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304. Which of the following statements about the costs of elder care is most accurate?
A. It should be much less expensive for firms to provide elder care than for them to
provide childcare.
B. The financial burdens of elder care on the children of aging parents are likely to
become less serious in the future than they are today, because many senior citizens are
now remaining employed into their 70s rather than retiring in their early 60s.
C. Although elder care is expensive, the good news is that companies can receive a great
deal of assistance from the federal government when they establish qualified elder care
programs.
D. The costs of elder care are likely to rise very rapidly in coming years as an increasing
number of older and more experienced employees face the need to care for aging parents
and other relatives.
Feedback: As the workforce of the United States ages, an increasing number of employees
will face the need to care for aging parents or other relatives. Since the workers who have
elderly parents are likely to be among the company’s most experienced employees, they are
likely to be in positions of greater authority and responsibility than workers who have child
care needs. Thus, the cost of absenteeism, tardiness, turnover and reduced productivity of
workers with elder care responsibilities could be especially high. Moreover, the federal
government currently provides little assistance to providers of elder care.
305.
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As an employee of the human resource department of a major corporation, you are
concerned about the potential costs of drug abuse. You are contemplating testing
employees for substance abuse. Before adopting such tests, you should know that:
A. this type of testing has been found to be illegal, but many firms do it anyway.
B. medical tests of this nature are not very accurate.
C. if you use these tests, your company will join over 70 percent of major companies that
test workers and job applicants.
D. these tests are very expensive, and should only be given to those who may belong to
groups judged to be at higher risk.
Feedback: Today over 80 percent of major companies now test workers and job applicants for
substance abuse.
306.
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Tom Dash works as a researcher studying the effects of alcohol and drug abuse at a large
research university on the east coast. The alcohol center’s mission statement reads, “Our
mission is to conduct, coordinate, and promote basic and clinical research on the causes,
prevention, and treatment of alcoholism and alcoholic disease.” Looking forward, which
of the following statements are you likely to agree with?
A. Tom’s work, although impressive will not have any short-term or long-term effect on
the cost of labor in the U.S.
B. The U.S. has seen significant declines in alcohol and drug related issues in the work
place. Tom would better serve the business world by working on AIDS related diseases.
C. Illegal drug use is more of a problem than alcohol in terms of the number of work-
related accidents that these problems cause. Tom should know, though that the baby
boomers are the major drug users, and they are retiring.
D. Tom Dash’s work is greatly needed by business and industry. Alcohol and drug use
continue to be on the rise and present serious work related costs to businesses across
almost all industries.
Feedback: Alcohol is the most widely used drug with over 6.5% of all U.S. employees
believed to be heavy drinkers. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, employed
drug users cost their employers about twice as much in medical and workers’ compensation
claims than drug-free co-workers.
307.
Chapter 12 – Dealing with Union and Employee–Management Issues
Safe‘nSwift Airlines implemented a program to curb workplace violence before it occurs.
Under this program, the employees of Safe‘nSwift can expect to:
A. share in any profits their airline earns.
B. get paid extended leave if they become especially and visibly angry at work.
C. see much more use of contingent workers.
D. take part in focus groups to share their ideas about workplace violence prevention.
Feedback: Many executives and managers consider workplace violence a serious issue and
have taken action to prevent problems before they occur. To deal with this growing threat,
firms have held focus groups to invite employee input, hired managers with strong
interpersonal skills, and employed skilled consultants to deal with any growing potential of
workplace violence.
308. Which of the following statements about sexual harassment is most accurate?
A. Only men can be charged with sexual harassment.
B. Sexual harassment cannot be proven unless the employee’s submission to such conduct
was made explicitly a term of employment or was used to influence the results of the
employee’s performance appraisal.
C. One flaw with the current laws concerning sexual harassment is that they do not take
into account the possibility of same-sex harassment.
D. In evaluating charges of sexual harassment, the courts place a great deal of emphasis
on whether the behavior was unwelcomed.
Feedback: In evaluating charges of sexual harassment, a key word seems to be unwelcome, a
term that refers to behavior that would offend a reasonable person.