SHRM-CP Practice Exam — All Questions

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a nonexempt employee who works 46 hours in a single workweek must be paid overtime for:

• a.Any hours worked beyond 8 in a day
• b.The 6 hours worked over 40 at 1.5 times the regular rate✓
• c.All 46 hours at 1.5 times the regular rate
• d.Only hours worked on weekends

The FLSA requires overtime at 1.5 times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, not a workday. Daily overtime and weekend premiums are not FLSA requirements (some states impose daily overtime, but the federal standard is the 40-hour weekly threshold).

To classify an employee as exempt from FLSA overtime under the executive exemption, an employer must generally satisfy which combination of tests?

• a.A salary-basis test, a salary-level test, and a duties test✓
• b.A duties test alone regardless of pay
• c.Only a minimum salary level
• d.Only a job title of 'manager'

The white-collar exemptions require all three: the employee must be paid on a salary basis, meet the minimum salary level, and perform exempt duties. A title such as 'manager' or pay alone does not create an exemption; the actual duties must qualify.

When a state minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage under the FLSA, an employer covered by both must pay:

• a.The federal minimum wage only
• b.Whichever rate the employer prefers
• c.An average of the two rates
• d.The higher state minimum wage✓

When federal and state (or local) wage laws differ, the employer must follow the standard most protective of the employee, which means paying the higher applicable minimum wage. The FLSA sets a floor, not a ceiling.

An employer improperly docks an exempt employee's salary for partial-day absences on several occasions. The most likely consequence under the FLSA is that:

• a.The employer may lose the exemption and owe overtime for that period✓
• b.Nothing changes because exempt status is permanent
• c.The employee immediately forfeits all accrued paid leave and any pending bonus payments
• d.The employee automatically becomes an independent contractor

Improper deductions can violate the salary-basis test and jeopardize the FLSA exemption, potentially making the employee eligible for overtime. Exempt status depends on continued compliance with the salary-basis rules and is not permanent.

Which classification factor is MOST consistent with an independent-contractor relationship rather than an employee relationship under current federal guidance?

• a.The company provides all tools and mandatory training
• b.The company sets the worker's daily schedule and supervises the work
• c.The worker controls the methods used and can realize profit or loss from the engagement✓
• d.Nothing changes, because once granted an FLSA exemption applies permanently for the life of the job

Independent-contractor status turns on the economic-realities/control test: contractors control how work is performed and bear opportunity for profit or loss. Employer control over schedule, tools, integral work, and required training all point toward employee status. Misclassification exposes employers to back wages and taxes.

A nonexempt employee travels overnight for business. Under FLSA rules, travel time that cuts across the employee's normal working hours (even on a non-workday) is generally:

• a.Compensable as hours worked✓
• b.Compensable only up to one hour
• c.Never compensable because it is travel
• d.Compensable only if the employee is driving

For overnight travel, time spent traveling during the employee's normal working hours is compensable hours worked, even if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday. Ordinary home-to-work commuting is not compensable, but this bona fide travel-away-from-home rule treats such time as work.

Under the FLSA child-labor provisions, 14- and 15-year-olds working in non-agricultural jobs are:

• a.Limited in the hours and times of day they may work✓
• b.Permitted to operate hazardous machinery with a permit
• c.Allowed to work unlimited hours
• d.Prohibited from all employment

The FLSA permits 14- and 15-year-olds to work in many non-hazardous jobs but restricts the number of hours and the times of day, especially during the school year. Certain hazardous occupations are barred entirely for minors under 18.

To be eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), an employee must generally meet all of the following EXCEPT:

• a.Have worked for the employer at least 12 months
• b.Work at a site with 50 or more employees within 75 miles
• c.Have worked at least 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months
• d.Have earned a minimum annual salary set by the DOL✓

FMLA eligibility requires 12 months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior year, and employment at a worksite with 50+ employees within 75 miles. There is no minimum-salary requirement; the FMLA is unpaid, job-protected leave for covered employers (50+ employees).

Which situation is NOT a qualifying reason for basic FMLA leave?

• a.Bonding with a newborn or newly placed adopted child
• b.Taking a planned vacation to reduce stress✓
• c.Caring for a spouse with a serious health condition
• d.The employee's own serious health condition

FMLA covers the employee's own serious health condition, care for a family member with a serious health condition, birth/adoption/foster bonding, and qualifying military-family needs. General vacation or personal time that is not tied to a serious health condition or covered reason does not qualify.

When an employee returns from FMLA leave, the employer's core obligation is to restore the employee to:

• a.Any open position in the company
• b.A position only if business needs still require it
• c.A comparable or lower position, provided the employee's performance is first re-evaluated
• d.The same or an equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits, and terms✓

FMLA guarantees restoration to the same or an equivalent job with equivalent pay, benefits, and working conditions. Demotion, conditioning reinstatement on business need, or offering a random open role would violate the restoration requirement (narrow key-employee exceptions aside).

The FMLA's military caregiver leave allows an eligible employee to take how much leave in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness?

• a.8 weeks
• b.26 weeks✓
• c.16 weeks
• d.12 weeks

Military caregiver leave extends FMLA to up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember or veteran with a serious injury or illness. This is greater than the standard 12-week entitlement for other FMLA reasons.

An employee needs periodic treatment for a chronic serious health condition, requiring occasional hours or days off. Under the FMLA this is best handled through:

• a.Denial because leave must be taken in one continuous block
• b.Immediate termination for excessive absence
• c.Intermittent leave tracked against the 12-week entitlement✓
• d.Unlimited paid time off

FMLA permits intermittent or reduced-schedule leave when medically necessary, with the used time counted against the 12-week entitlement. Employers may require certification and, where foreseeable for planned treatment, reasonable scheduling to minimize disruption.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employer may decline to provide a requested accommodation only if it would:

• a.Cost any amount of money at all, because the ADA never requires an employer to spend money on accommodations
• b.Be inconvenient for a supervisor
• c.Impose an undue hardship or the individual cannot perform essential functions even with accommodation✓
• d.Require any change to a job description

The ADA requires reasonable accommodation unless it causes undue hardship (significant difficulty or expense) or the person cannot perform the job's essential functions with accommodation. Minor cost, inconvenience, or a needed description change do not, by themselves, excuse the duty.

After an employee with a disability requests an accommodation, the ADA expects the employer to:

• a.Require the employee to prove there is no cost
• b.Choose the least expensive option available without any discussion with the affected employee
• c.Refer the matter to the employee's coworkers
• d.Engage in an interactive process to identify an effective reasonable accommodation✓

The ADA contemplates a good-faith interactive process, a collaborative dialogue between employer and employee to identify the individual's limitations and possible effective accommodations. Employers need not grant the exact accommodation requested but must engage in the process and provide an effective one.

A 'qualified individual' under the ADA is a person who:

• a.Can perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation✓
• b.Has any diagnosed medical condition that substantially limits one or more major life activities
• c.Has worked at least five years for the employer
• d.Is a member of a labor union

The ADA protects a 'qualified individual with a disability', someone who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the position. Tenure, union membership, or a diagnosis alone does not establish qualification for a specific job.

The ADA's employment provisions (Title I) generally apply to private employers with at least:

• a.1 employee
• b.50 employees
• c.15 employees✓
• d.100 employees

ADA Title I covers employers with 15 or more employees, the same coverage threshold as Title VII and the ADA's cousin statutes for many purposes. The ADEA uses 20; the FMLA uses 50.

Under the ADA, when may an employer require a medical examination of an applicant?

• a.At any point during recruiting, including before the interview, as long as the results stay confidential
• b.Only for applicants over age 40
• c.After a conditional job offer, if required of all entering employees in that job category✓
• d.Before reviewing the resume

The ADA prohibits pre-offer medical examinations. An employer may require a medical exam only after a conditional offer and only if it is required of all entering employees in the same job category, with results kept confidential.

Which characteristic is NOT a protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

• a.National origin
• b.Religion
• c.Race
• d.Marital status✓

Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Marital status is not a Title VII protected class at the federal level (though some state laws add it). Sex has been interpreted to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

A hiring test that is neutral on its face but screens out a protected group at a significantly higher rate, and is not job-related, is an example of:

• a.A bona fide occupational qualification
• b.Disparate (adverse) impact✓
• c.Disparate treatment
• d.Retaliation

Disparate impact occurs when a neutral policy or test disproportionately excludes a protected group and cannot be justified as job-related and consistent with business necessity. Disparate treatment, by contrast, is intentional discrimination against an individual because of protected status.

An employee files an EEOC charge of discrimination, and the manager then cuts the employee's hours in response. This is most likely:

• a.Unlawful retaliation✓
• b.Only a policy violation, not a legal issue
• c.A legitimate performance action
• d.Permissible because the charge is unproven

Retaliation, taking an adverse action because an employee engaged in a protected activity such as filing a charge or opposing discrimination, is itself unlawful under Title VII and related statutes. Retaliation can be found even if the underlying discrimination claim fails.

A bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) may lawfully allow an employer to consider a protected characteristic when:

• a.It is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business✓
• b.It applies to race in any circumstance
• c.It reflects a documented customer preference that the business has surveyed and formally validated
• d.It saves the company money

A BFOQ is a narrow defense allowing use of sex, religion, national origin, or age when reasonably necessary to normal business operations (for example, hiring a female attendant for a women's locker room). Customer preference and cost are not valid bases, and race can NEVER be a BFOQ.

For unwelcome conduct to constitute an unlawful hostile work environment under Title VII, it generally must be:

• a.Severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of employment✓
• b.Reported to the police first
• c.A single mildly rude comment that a coworker happened to overhear once in passing
• d.Directed only at senior managers

Hostile-environment harassment requires conduct based on a protected characteristic that a reasonable person would find severe or pervasive enough to alter the terms and conditions of employment. Isolated, trivial slights usually do not meet this legal threshold, though employers should still address them.

An employee requests Fridays off for religious observance. Under Title VII the employer must:

• a.Automatically grant any and all scheduling requests that employees submit without any limits
• b.Provide reasonable accommodation unless it would cause an undue hardship✓
• c.Require the employee to change religions
• d.Refuse because scheduling is a business right

Title VII requires reasonable accommodation of sincerely held religious beliefs unless doing so imposes an undue hardship on the business. Following the Supreme Court's Groff v. DeJoy decision, undue hardship means a substantial increased cost, a higher bar than the old de minimis standard.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects workers who are:

• a.Age 21 and older only
• b.Workers of any age, at every employer regardless of the total number of people it employs
• c.Age 40 and older, at employers with 20 or more employees✓
• d.Age 65 and older only

The ADEA prohibits age discrimination against individuals age 40 and over and applies to employers with 20 or more employees. It protects older workers in hiring, discharge, pay, and other terms; there is no upper age cap on protection.

Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (an amendment to Title VII), an employer must treat a pregnant employee who is temporarily unable to work:

• a.As ineligible for any benefits
• b.As automatically disabled
• c.The same as other employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work✓
• d.More favorably than all other employees who are temporarily unable to perform their normal duties

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires that pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions be treated the same as other temporary disabilities for all employment purposes, including leave and benefits. It bars less favorable treatment because of pregnancy but does not require preferential treatment.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), effective in 2023, requires covered employers to:

• a.Provide 12 weeks of paid leave
• b.Extend health coverage to all family members
• c.Ban all pregnant employees from physical work
• d.Provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions absent undue hardship✓

The PWFA obligates employers with 15+ employees to provide reasonable accommodations (such as more frequent breaks, seating, or modified duties) for known pregnancy-related limitations, unless it causes undue hardship. It fills gaps left by the PDA and ADA and does not itself mandate paid leave.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires equal pay for men and women who perform jobs requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar conditions. A permissible reason for a pay difference is:

• a.The employee's marital status
• b.The employee's sex, provided the pay difference is small and applied consistently to everyone
• c.A manager's personal preference
• d.A seniority system, merit system, or measure of production✓

The Equal Pay Act allows pay differentials only if based on a seniority system, merit system, a system measuring quantity or quality of production, or any factor other than sex. Pay gaps justified by sex or unrelated personal factors violate the Act.

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) generally prohibits employers from:

• a.Conducting job-related skills tests
• b.Requesting or using employees' genetic information in employment decisions✓
• c.Offering any workplace wellness program that collects health information from participating staff
• d.Verifying employment eligibility

GINA bars employers from requesting, requiring, or using genetic information (including family medical history) in hiring, firing, or other decisions, and restricts its acquisition. It does not prohibit lawful skills testing, I-9 verification, or properly designed wellness programs.

Under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), employees, whether or not they are in a union, have the right to:

• a.Engage in protected concerted activity for mutual aid or protection✓
• b.Demand exemption from taxes
• c.Refuse to attend any employer-mandated safety training that they personally disagree with
• d.Ignore all workplace rules

NLRA Section 7 protects employees' right to engage in protected concerted activity, such as discussing wages or working conditions together, whether or not a union is present. Policies that broadly prohibit employees from discussing pay can violate the Act.

Which employer action would most likely be an unfair labor practice under the NLRA?

• a.Providing required safety equipment
• b.Paying overtime as required by the FLSA
• c.Threatening employees who discuss forming a union✓
• d.Enforcing a lawful, neutral attendance policy

Threatening, interrogating, surveilling, or promising benefits to discourage union activity (the 'TIPS' rules) are unfair labor practices under the NLRA. Neutral, lawful policies and statutory compliance are not, provided they are not used to interfere with protected rights.

In collective bargaining under the NLRA, wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment are:

• a.Permissive subjects the employer may ignore
• b.Managed solely by the union
• c.Mandatory subjects of bargaining✓
• d.Illegal subjects of bargaining

Wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment are mandatory subjects, meaning both parties must bargain in good faith over them. Permissive subjects may be discussed but not insisted upon to impasse, and illegal subjects may not be bargained at all.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act generally requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide how much advance notice of a covered mass layoff or plant closing?

• a.60 calendar days✓
• b.2 weeks
• c.30 calendar days
• d.90 calendar days

WARN requires covered employers (generally 100+ employees) to give 60 calendar days' advance written notice of a qualifying plant closing or mass layoff to affected workers, unions, and specified government officials. Failure can result in back pay and benefits liability.

OSHA's General Duty Clause requires employers to:

• a.Provide comprehensive employer-paid health insurance and paid sick leave to all full-time employees
• b.Furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm✓
• c.Eliminate all workplace stress
• d.Guarantee lifetime employment

Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, the General Duty Clause, obligates employers to keep the workplace free of recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm, even where no specific OSHA standard applies. It is not about benefits, job security, or stress alone.

Under OSHA recordkeeping rules, a covered employer generally must record a work-related injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log when it involves:

• a.Medical treatment beyond first aid, days away from work, restricted duty, or job transfer✓
• b.Any minor first-aid treatment provided on site, even a single adhesive bandage or an ice pack
• c.Only injuries reported to a doctor within 24 hours
• d.Only fatalities

OSHA requires recording work-related cases involving death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. Minor cases treated with first aid only are generally not recordable, and fatalities and severe injuries have separate reporting deadlines.

An employee refuses to perform a task due to a reasonable, good-faith belief of imminent danger of death or serious injury and requests OSHA involvement. The employer:

• a.May not retaliate against the employee for exercising OSHA rights✓
• b.May cut the employee's pay as a warning
• c.May bar the employee from ever contacting OSHA
• d.May terminate the employee for insubordination and refusal to follow a direct order from a supervisor

The OSH Act's Section 11(c) protects employees from retaliation for exercising safety rights, including filing complaints and, in narrow circumstances, refusing work involving a reasonable belief of imminent danger. Discipline or pay cuts for such protected activity would be unlawful retaliation.

OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom) requires that employees who work with hazardous chemicals have access to:

• a.A signed liability waiver
• b.Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) and container labeling with training✓
• c.Nothing, if the chemicals are common
• d.Only verbal warnings from supervisors given before the chemicals are first used on the job

HazCom (the 'right to know' standard) requires labeled containers, readily accessible Safety Data Sheets, a written program, and employee training on chemical hazards. Verbal warnings or waivers do not satisfy the standard, regardless of how common the chemicals are.

Under COBRA, employees who lose group health coverage due to a qualifying event at an employer with 20 or more employees may generally continue coverage for up to:

• a.12 months
• b.60 days
• c.6 months
• d.18 months (36 in certain events)✓

COBRA allows qualified beneficiaries to continue group health coverage for 18 months after events such as termination or reduced hours, extending to 36 months for events like divorce or a dependent aging out. The former employee typically pays the full premium plus a 2% administrative fee.

In the HR context, HIPAA's Privacy Rule most directly limits an employer's handling of:

• a.Payroll tax filings
• b.All personnel performance data and disciplinary records that the employer keeps on file
• c.Protected health information obtained through a group health plan✓
• d.Public directory information

HIPAA's Privacy Rule governs protected health information (PHI) held by covered entities such as group health plans, restricting its use and disclosure. It does not broadly cover ordinary employment records; ADA and other laws govern general medical information the employer holds as an employer.

Which of the following is a COBRA qualifying event that can trigger continuation-coverage rights for a spouse?

• a.Relocation of the office
• b.Divorce or legal separation from the covered employee✓
• c.A pay raise for the employee
• d.A change in the employee's job title

COBRA qualifying events include termination (other than for gross misconduct), reduction in hours, the covered employee's death, divorce or legal separation, and a dependent child ceasing to qualify. Ordinary raises, title changes, or relocations do not by themselves trigger COBRA.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) generally requires that an employee returning from qualifying military service be:

• a.Placed permanently in an entry-level role until they formally requalify for their prior position and pay grade
• b.Given a cash payment instead of reinstatement
• c.Reemployed in the position they would have attained had they not been absent (the 'escalator' principle)✓
• d.Rehired only if a vacancy exists

USERRA's escalator principle restores the returning servicemember to the job, and seniority, status, and pay, they would have attained with reasonable certainty had they remained continuously employed. Reemployment is a right, not contingent on a vacancy, subject to certain limits.