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Chapter 9: Job Security and Seniority
1. Which of the following terms refers to the system of rules and regulations that labor and
management fashion to define their specific employment rights and obligations in the
workplace?
a. posturing
b. industrial jurisprudence
c. framing
d. successorship
2. The implicit contract theory supports the “last-hired, first-fired” rule because, according
to this theory, ________.
a. employees increase their productivity with experience
b. collective bargaining produces rules and procedures to ease the tension between the union
and the management
c. the career strategy of employers encourages employees to commit themselves to steady
productive work
d. employee turnover rate depends on the benefits provided to them such as flexible work
scheduling
3. A “seniority system” within a company is a set of rules governing the allocation of
economic benefits and opportunities on the basis of ________.
a. basic salary
b. age
c. educational qualifications
d. service with one employer
4. Which of the following statements is true of a seniority system?
a. The seniority system is based on the age and the educational qualifications of the
employees.
b. A seniority system is a mandatory subject in the collective bargaining process.
c. Implementation of seniority systems is required by federal law.
d. Strict formal seniority systems are common in nonunionized organizations, but rare
among union employers.
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5. Generally, new employees begin acquiring seniority ________.
a. from the first day after their first promotion
b. from their date of first hire
c. from the first day after receiving their first designation
d. from the first day after completing the probationary period
6. Which of the following types of seniority is most likely to be used for determining
layoffs?
a. plant-wide seniority
b. departmental seniority
c. classification seniority
d. superseniority
7. Union officers and committee personnel may be given preferred seniority rights for layoff
and recall situations. This is referred to as ________.
a. departmental seniority
b. superseniority
c. plant-wide seniority
d. classification seniority
8. In the case of job bidding, an up-bid is a bid ________.
a. from one department to another department in the same pay grade
b. from a lower to a higher pay grade
c. from one classification to another classification within the same department and in the
same pay grade
d. from a higher to a lower designation and pay grade
9. In the case of job bidding, a bid from one classification to another classification in the
same pay grade is known as a(n) ________.
a. lateral bid
b. cross-bid
c. down-bid
d. up-bid
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10. In the case of job bidding, a down-bid is a bid ________.
a. from one department to another department in the same pay grade
b. from a lower to a higher designation and pay grade
c. from one classification to another classification within the same department and in the
same pay grade
d. from a higher to a lower pay grade
11. In unionized organizations, agreements often specify ________ as the sole decision
criterion in layoff and recall situations. This method is generally promoted by employees
but not favored by employers.
a. age
b. qualifications
c. seniority
d. performance
12. Which of the following statements is true regarding layoffs in unionized organizations?
a. In most labor contracts, the highest paid employees are laid off first, with further layoffs
made in accordance with performance levels as necessary.
b. In unionized organizations, agreements specify age as the sole decision criterion in layoff
and recall situations.
c. If the workforce is increased after a layoff, laid-off employees are to be recalled
according to past performance levels for appropriate jobs.
d. In cases involving temporary or emergency layoffs, management is often given more
flexibility in selecting employees than in indefinite layoffs.
13. Which of the following acts is more commonly known as the Plant Closing Act?
a. National Labor Relations Act
b. Fair Labor Standards Act
c. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
d. Selective Training and Service Act
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14. The general purpose of the ________ Act is to warn workers and local communities of
plant closing or mass layoff decisions by requiring employers to provide advance notice
in either situation.
a. Servicemen’s Readjustment
b. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification
c. National Labor Relations
d. Selective Training and Service
15. Which of the following statements is true regarding the Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification (WARN) Act?
a. This Act requires employers to provide 10 days’ advance written notice of either a plant
closing or a mass layoff once the decision is made by management.
b. This Act requires written notification even when other employees remain working if 50 or
more are included in the shutdown.
c. Advance notice of a temporary shutdown decision is not required if mass layoff decisions
affect fewer than 100 employees.
d. Most federal, state, and local government organizations are covered by this law.
16. When the surviving group principle is used for combining the seniority lists of merged
companies, ________.
a. employees are allowed to continue previously earned seniority on separate seniority lists
when their work with the merged company can be separately identified
b. employees’ rank positions on the merging seniority lists are equal to their rank positions
on the prior seniority lists
c. an employee’s length of service is considered, regardless of which company he or she
worked for before the merger
d. all the employees of the acquiring company receive greater seniority consideration than
any employee of the acquired company
17. According to the ________ principle of combining the seniority lists, employees are
allowed to continue previously earned seniority on separate seniority lists when their
work with the merged company can be separately identified.
a. surviving group
b. follow the work
c. length of service
d. absolute rank
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18. With reference to the principles used for combining seniority lists in the event of a
merger, the ________ principle gives employees rank positions on the merging seniority
lists equal to their rank position on the prior seniority lists.
a. associative rank
b. ratio-rank
c. rank maintenance
d. absolute rank
19. A company called Excel Inc. has acquired another company called M&M Inc. Excel Inc.
has 150 employees and M&M Inc. has 50 employees. It is decided that the seniority list
will be combined according to the proportion of the number of employees in both the
companies. Since the proportion is 3:1, in the first four places on the new seniority lists,
the three positions ranked highest in Excel Inc. are given positions 1, 2, and 3, and the
highest ranked position in M&M Inc. is given rank 4. Which of the following principles
of combining seniority lists is used in this example?
a. associative rank
b. ratio-rank
c. rank maintenance
d. absolute rank
20. Which of the following terms refers to an arrangement by an employer to have another
firm make goods or perform work that could be accomplished by the employer’s own
bargaining unit employees?
a. posturing
b. pyramiding
c. subcontracting
d. framing
21. Employee teams have an impact on decisions and actions that affect their ________.
a. seniority level
b. workplace conditions
c. salary
d. promotion policies
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22. The use of employee teams is encouraged when the team offers synergy, which means
that ________.
a. decisions made by employee teams are more likely to be implemented than decisions
made by individuals
b. the production of the team is greater than the sum of the production possible with
individuals
c. the levels of cohesion within smaller teams are greater than the levels of cohesion
between employees in a department
d. most of the people making up the team are more interested in the performance of the team
than in individual performance
23. Which of the following factors is most likely to be a predictor of the success of a team
within an organization?
a. the level of autonomy provided to a team
b. the long-term business strategy of the organization
c. the size of the team
d. the profitability of the organization
24. Which of the following points must be shown to prove that an employee involvement
program is in violation of the Wagner Act?
a. The entity created by the program is not controlled by the employer.
b. The entity created by the program is a labor organization.
c. The entity created by the program includes union members.
d. The entity created by the program consists of management representatives.
25. A committee or group is generally considered a ________ if employees participate in it
and at least one purpose is to deal with the employer on issues of grievances, labor
disputes, wages, work rules, or hours of employment.
a. labor organization
b. quality circle
c. restricted coalition
d. kaizen group
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26. For a committee or group to be considered a “labor organization” at least one of its
purposes should be to deal with the employer on the issue of ________.
a. discrimination by race
b. indemnity bonds
c. hours of employment
d. preferential hiring
27. The law on successorship provides that if there is a genuine change in the collective
bargaining representative, ________.
a. the successor representative can change only that part of the existing collective bargaining
contract which deals with wages and hours of employment
b. the successor representative must obtain the approval of the management
c. the existing collective bargaining contract is not binding on the successor representative
d. the successor representative can renegotiate only the permissive bargaining items with
management
28. If a genuine change of employer exists but the employing industry remains substantially
the same, the successor employer ________.
a. is required to recognize both the existing collective bargaining unit and its representative,
and is bound by the agreement
b. is required to recognize the existing collective bargaining unit and its representative, but
is not bound by the agreement
c. is not required to recognize the existing collective bargaining unit or its representative,
and is not bound by the agreement
d. is required to recognize the existing collective bargaining unit but not its representative,
and is bound by the agreement
29. If there is a change in either a collective bargaining representative or an employer, parties
to an unexpired collective bargaining agreement may not be certain of their status. Which
of the following terms is used by the courts to refer to these situations?
a. lockout
b. commitment escalation
c. arbitration
d. successorship
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30. Which of the following factors must be present for the successorship doctrine to apply to
the purchaser of a business employing union members?
a. The successor should substantially continue the business operations of the predecessor.
b. The nature of jobs performed and the means of operation should change significantly
after the change of employer.
c. The successor should lay off all the existing employees and hire new employees.
d. The successor should start manufacturing a new product line.
31. Under which of the following circumstances is a successor employer considered to be
guilty of an unfair labor practice?
a. The successor employer sells off a large part of the existing business.
b. The successor employer disregards the predecessor’s collective bargaining agreement.
c. The successor employer sets the initial terms of employment, such as wages, benefits, and
working conditions, without consulting the union.
d. The successor employer refuses to hire existing employees due to their union status.
32. A successor employer is most likely to be obligated to ________.
a. accept the predecessor’s collective bargaining agreement
b. hire all existing employees irrespective of their union status
c. arbitrate the grievances filed under the predecessor’s collective bargaining agreement
d. set the initial terms of employment only after consulting the union
33. Which of the following is a mandatory subject for collective bargaining?
a. alcohol and drug testing of current employees
b. discrimination by race, religion, or national origin
c. membership of the bargaining team
d. the scope of the bargaining unit
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34. In the case of drug testing, during the collection and testing processes, a “Chain of
Custody” form is used to ensure ________.
a. the confidentiality of the test result
b. that the employee who tests positive gets an opportunity to undergo a rehabilitation
program
c. that there is no tampering of the samples involved in the testing
d. that the employee who tests positive is reinstated on the job after the completion of the
rehabilitation program
35. Which of the following types of drug testing has raised the strongest criticism by unions,
largely on the basis of an employee’s right to privacy?
a. reasonable suspicion testing
b. random testing
c. post-accident testing
d. preemployment testing
True/False
36. Industrial jurisprudence generally embodies the principle that a single individual or group
of top management officials will determine the operation of the organization.
37. The issue of seniority is popular among unions and viewed as critical to job security.
38. The implementation of seniority systems is required by the federal law.
39. Strict formal seniority systems are commonplace in virtually all nonunionized
organizations, but they are rare among unionized organizations.
40. Generally, seniority is not awarded to employees until after the probationary period, even
though they begin accruing seniority from their date of first hire.
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41. A seniority list is a company list used to identify employees in a bargaining unit
according to their length of continuous employment.
42. Generally, departmental seniority is considered for determining layoffs.
43. Departmental seniority is often used to determine eligibility for a promotion or a transfer.
44. A procedure commonly used during layoffs, in which employees with greater seniority
whose jobs are eliminated displace employees with lesser seniority is known as bumping.
45. An employee is not entitled to a job assignment as a reasonable accommodation of his or
her disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) if the assignment would
conflict with the rules of a seniority system.
46. Virtually all contracts provide that employees lose seniority if they voluntarily quit or are
discharged.
47. Employees on layoff usually retain and accumulate seniority for a period of time
specified within the labor agreement.
48. In all unionized organizations, promotion decisions are solely based on seniority.
49. Contract clauses dealing with promotion apply only to positions within the bargaining
unit.
50. In unionized organizations, agreements specify age as the sole decision criterion in layoff
and recall situations.
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51. In labor contracts, the highest-paid employees are laid off first, with further layoffs made
in accordance with performance levels as necessary.
52. When considering layoffs, a junior employee could be given preference over a senior
employee if the senior requires a much greater amount of supervision in performing the
job.
53. Affirmation Action rights have generally been upheld over seniority rights in cases of
layoffs when the two are in conflict.
54. The National Labor Relations Act is more commonly known as the Plant Closing Act.
55. The Plant Closing Act does not require employers to provide advance written notice of
either a plant closing or a mass layoff once the decision is made by management.
56. A plant closing is defined as the permanent shutdown of a single site or one or more
operating units that causes an employment loss of 30 days or more for 50 or more
employees, excluding part-time workers.
57. Most federal, state, and local government organizations are covered by the Plant Closing
Act.
58. In general, the burden of proof is placed on the employer to show that a bypassed senior
employee is not competent for the job during promotions or layoff or recall actions.
59. Although it is generally agreed that management has the right to determine how ability is
to be measured in cases involving promotion or layoff and recall decisions, there is no
federal law or agreed-on formula to specify exactly how such decisions should be made.
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60. When the “length of service principle” is used for combining the seniority lists of the
merged companies, none of the employees lose their previously earned seniorities.
61. As per the “follow the work principle” of combining the seniority lists of the merged
companies, all the employees of the acquiring company receive greater seniority
consideration than any employee of the acquired company.
62. An employee committee with delegated managerial authority can take on the union’s role
to “deal with” management.
63. The law on successorship provides that if there is a genuine change in the collective
bargaining representative, the existing collective bargaining contract is not binding on the
successor representative.
64. The new employer has the right to disregard the predecessor’s collective bargaining
agreement.
65. The NLRA does not allow for a breach of an existing collective bargaining agreement due
to financial hardship.