Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
1. (p. 364) The employment relationship confers rights and duties on both sides.
2. (p. 364) Employees in the United States have the right to organize and bargain collectively.
3. (p. 365) Employers are not required by law to agree to the union’s demands, but they are
required to bargain in good faith.
4. (p. 366) Some labor unions have departed from their traditional adversarial approach to work
cooperatively with employers for their mutual benefit.
5. (p. 367) The Occupational Safety and Health Act gives workers the right to a job “free from
recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.”
6. (p. 368) Employment-at-will is a legal doctrine that means employees are hired and retain
their jobs at the sole discretion of the employer.
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
7. (p. 370) Under the new social contract, the bond between the employer and employee has
become stronger.
8. (p. 372) In a business context, privacy rights refer to protecting an individual’s personal life
from unwarranted intrusion by his or her employer.
9. (p. 373) Most management experts recommend that employers do let employees know they
are being electronically monitored.
10. (p. 374) According to a recent study, nearly all companies test employees or job applicants
for drugs.
11. (p. 374) Drug testing for cause is commonly used after an accident or some observable
change in behavior.
12. (p. 375) In general, employee assistance programs have been very cost effective.
13. (p. 376) The U.S. Constitution protects the right to free speech—which means only the
government can take away this right.
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
14. (p. 379) The term labor standards refers to the conditions under which a company’s
employees work.
15. (p. 379) The Council for Economic Priorities has developed a set of workplace rules called
Social Accountability 8000, or SA 8000.
16. (p. 364) If someone is entitled to be treated a certain way, this refers to a(n):
Difficulty: Easy
17. (p. 364) Employees in the United States have a legal right to:
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
18. (p. 364 – 365) Where are workers not permitted to form independent unions?
Difficulty: Medium
19. (p. 365) Under U.S. laws:
Difficulty: Hard
20. (p. 365) During the 1930s, many workers in the United States joined unions, and the ranks of
organized labor grew rapidly. This historical period was called:
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
21. (p. 365) Since the mid-1950s the proportion of American workers represented by unions
has:
Difficulty: Easy
22. (p. 366) Which of the following statements is not true about the right to a safe and healthy
workplace?
Difficulty: Hard
Difficulty: Hard
24. (p. 367) According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, the highest injury rates are found in
which industry?
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
25. (p. 367) The Occupational Safety and Health Act gives workers the right to a job:
Difficulty: Medium
26. (p. 370) According to the new social contract:
Difficulty: Hard
27. (p. 370) Which of the following led to significant corporate restructuring and downsizing?
Difficulty: Hard
28. (p. 372) Privacy rights seek to protect the employees’ private lives from:
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
16-7
29. (p. 373) A reason for an increase in employee monitoring does not include:
Difficulty: Medium
30. (p. 373 – 374) Which of the following is true about romantic relationships in the workplace?
Difficulty: Easy
31. (p. 374) Which of the following is true about random drug testing of employees?
Difficulty: Hard
32. (p. 375) Which of the following is not an argument favoring employee drug testing?
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
33. (p. 375) Which of the following is (are) true about Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)?
Difficulty: Easy
34. (p. 376) Which of the following is not true about employee theft?
Difficulty: Easy
35. (p. 376) Polygraph testing:
Difficulty: Medium
36. (p. 376) Which of the following is (are) true about honesty tests?
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
37. (p. 376) The right to free speech is protected in the United States by the:
Difficulty: Easy
38. (p. 377) When an employee believes their employer has done something that is wrong or
harmful to the public, and he or she reports alleged organizational misconduct to the media,
government, or high-level company officials, what has occurred?
Difficulty: Easy
39. (p. 377) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act makes it illegal for employers to:
Difficulty: Hard
40. (p. 377) Which law allows individuals who sue federal contractors for fraud to receive up to
30 percent of any amount recovered by the government?
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
41. (p. 378) Only after which of the following conditions is (are) met, should the whistle-blower
go public?
Difficulty: Easy
42. (p. 379) The conditions under which a company’s employees work is called:
Difficulty: Medium
43. (p. 379) The Council of Economic Priorities has developed a set of workplace rules called:
Difficulty: Hard
44. (p. 379) When groups of companies define industry-wide standards that they can all agree to,
these are called:
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
45. (p. 381) A strong employer-employee relationship is central to:
Difficulty: Medium
46. (p. 364 – 372) Workers in the United States enjoy several important legal guarantees. Discuss
three major worker rights. What are the U.S. laws and regulations that govern each? How do
such policies compare with those of other countries?
47. (p. 368 — 372) Discuss the pros and cons of the new social contract from the viewpoint of an
employer and employee. What duty does an employer have to provide job security to its
workers?
48. (p. 372 – 376) Some people believe that the right of privacy should be extended to the
workplace. Others feel that, on the contrary, that such an extension would constitute an
unwarranted incursion into management’s right to manage. Please comment on this debate,
using examples from the text discussion of electronic monitoring, romance in the workplace,
employee drug testing, and employee honesty testing. Are there particular circumstances
under which it is, or is not, appropriate for employers to monitor employee behavior?
Chapter 16 – Employees and the Corporation
49. (p. 372 – 373) As the use of electronic communication at work has risen, new ethical issues
involving worker privacy have emerged. Should employers be allowed to read employee e-
mail, inspect their MySpace pages or blogs, or access files located on a personal computer at
work? Why or why not?
50. (p. 375) Developing a corporate policy on alcohol abuse is a difficult challenge. As the CEO
of a firm, how would you fairly treat and protect the privacy of an employee who has an
alcohol problem, while maintaining the company goal of maximizing the productivity of each
employee?
51. (p. 376 — 378) Provide an example where employee whistle-blowing is justified and an
example where it is not. Provide support for each example.
52. (p. 378 – 381) Discuss working conditions around the world. What challenges face
multinational corporations? What approaches are companies using to establish fair labor
standards? Which approaches might work better than others?