Engineers at a manufacturing company are assigned to product teams led by project managers while continuing to report to the engineering director for assignments, training, and appraisals. Several engineers tell HR they receive conflicting deadlines and do not know whose priorities come first. Which structural feature most likely explains the complaints?

Dual reporting relationships created by a matrix structure

Reliance on outside partners created by a network structure

Wide spans of control created by a flat structure

Duplicated resources created by a divisional structure

A new employee begins work on a Monday, and the company is open Monday through Friday. By when must the employer complete Section 2 of Form I-9?

By the end of the following Monday

After a market-based restructuring, a long-service employee's salary is $4,000 above the maximum of the new range for her job. Her performance is fully satisfactory. What is the most common treatment?

Red-circle the salary, pausing base pay increases or paying lump sums until the range moves above her pay

Promote her to the next grade so her pay fits the range

Reduce her salary to the new range maximum

Give her the standard merit increase to base pay each year

A company introduced an employee assistance program six months ago, but usage is far below the vendor's benchmark. Employees surveyed say they did not know the service was confidential or free. What is the best next step?

Relaunch communication through multiple channels, emphasizing confidentiality and cost, and brief managers so they can refer employees

Cancel the EAP contract because employees do not value the service

Add the EAP to the annual performance review goals

Require all employees to attend one EAP session

A maintenance employee refuses to enter a confined space because the atmosphere monitor shows dangerously low oxygen and there is no time to have the hazard corrected through normal channels. His supervisor threatens discipline. What should HR advise?

Do not discipline the employee, because refusing work that poses an imminent danger is protected, and correct the hazard

Reassign the task to another employee without correcting the hazard

Discipline the employee for insubordination

Require the employee to file a written complaint before refusing

A growing company is organized into marketing, finance, operations, and HR departments, each led by a functional manager. Product launches are frequently delayed because departments optimize their own goals and communicate poorly with one another. Which change would most directly address the problem?

Create cross-functional product teams with shared launch goals

Centralize all decisions with the CEO

Add another management layer within each department

Narrow each manager's span of control

After making conditional offers to ten applicants for a warehouse job, an employer requires a medical examination only of the two applicants who disclosed a disability during interviews. What is the problem?

Post-offer medical exams must be required of all entering employees in the same job category, regardless of disability

Post-offer medical exams are prohibited by the ADA

Medical exams must be limited to employees in safety- sensitive jobs

The exam must be given before the offer to be lawful

Two employees received "exceeds expectations" ratings. One has a compa-ratio of 0.85, and the other has a compa-ratio of 1.15. Under a typical merit matrix, how will their increases compare?

The employee at 0.85 will receive a larger percentage increase

Both will receive the same percentage because their ratings are the same

Neither will receive an increase because both are outside the midpoint

The employee at 1.15 will receive a larger percentage increase

Company-wide voluntary turnover is stable at 12%, but HR finds that the company is losing a much higher proportion of its top-rated performers than of its average performers. Which measure best highlights this problem?

Regrettable turnover, the rate at which employees the organization wanted to keep are leaving

An employee tests positive for an illegal drug in a reasonable-suspicion test and says he has a disability that should be accommodated. How does the ADA apply?

An employee currently engaging in illegal drug use is not protected by the ADA for that use

The employer must wait for a second positive test before acting

The ADA requires the employer to accommodate current illegal drug use

Drug tests are medical examinations that are prohibited during employment

PHR

Free PHR Practice Questions

10 sample questions for the PHR, with the correct answer and an explanation for each. No account needed. Try each one before you open the answer.

Sections covered on the exam: Business Management, Stakeholders,Culture,Andethics, Riskmanagementandlegalcompliance, Hrmetricsanddatainterpretation, Workforce Planning And Talent, Workforce Planning and Talent Acquisition, Recruitmentstrategyandsourcing, Selectionmethods, Offers,Onboarding,Andorientation, Learning And Development, Trainingneedsanalysis, Instructionaldesign, Learning and Development, Trainingdeliverymethods, Total Rewards, Payrollandwage-And-Hourcompliance, Non-Monetaryrewardsandrecognition, Employee Engagement, Retentionstrategies, Theemployeelifecycleandengagementprograms, Performancemanagement, Performanceimprovementandemploymentactivities, Employee And Labor Relations, Employee and Labor Relations, Health,Safety,Security,Andprivacy, Policiesandtheemploymentrelationship, Laborrelationsandcollectivebargaining, Hr Information Management, Hrinformationsystemsandtechnology, HR Information Management, Hrdatamanagementandreporting, Paystructuresandpayforperformance, Understandingandmeasuringengagement, Positiveemployeerelationsanddiscipline.

Question 1 · Business Management
Engineers at a manufacturing company are assigned to product teams led by project managers while continuing to report to the engineering director for assignments, training, and appraisals. Several engineers tell HR they receive conflicting deadlines and do not know whose priorities come first. Which structural feature most likely explains the complaints?
- A.Reliance on outside partners created by a network structure
- B.Wide spans of control created by a flat structure
- C.Duplicated resources created by a divisional structure
- D.Dual reporting relationships created by a matrix structure
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Dual reporting relationships created by a matrix structure
Employees who report to both a functional manager and a project manager are working in a matrix structure, and conflicting priorities from two bosses are its best-known drawback. Wide spans of control, duplicated divisional resources, and dependence on outside partners are drawbacks of other structures and do not describe two managers competing for the same employee's time.
Question 2 · Business Management
A new employee begins work on a Monday, and the company is open Monday through Friday. By when must the employer complete Section 2 of Form I-9?
- A.By the end of the following Monday
- B.By the end of Monday
- C.By the end of Wednesday
- D.By the end of Thursday
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. By the end of Thursday
The employer must complete Section 2 within three business days of the employee's first day of work for pay. For a Monday start, the three business days are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The employee must complete Section 1 no later than the first day of employment.
Question 3 · Total Rewards
After a market-based restructuring, a long-service employee's salary is $4,000 above the maximum of the new range for her job. Her performance is fully satisfactory. What is the most common treatment?
- A.Promote her to the next grade so her pay fits the range
- B.Reduce her salary to the new range maximum
- C.Red-circle the salary, pausing base pay increases or paying lump sums until the range moves above her pay
- D.Give her the standard merit increase to base pay each year
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Red-circle the salary, pausing base pay increases or paying lump sums until the range moves above her pay
Pay above the range maximum is a red-circle rate. Organizations usually freeze base increases or pay lump-sum awards until structure adjustments catch up. Cutting pay damages morale and trust, promoting without a change in duties undermines the job evaluation system, and continuing base increases moves her further above the range.
Question 4 · Theemployeelifecycleandengagementprograms
A company introduced an employee assistance program six months ago, but usage is far below the vendor's benchmark. Employees surveyed say they did not know the service was confidential or free. What is the best next step?
- A.Cancel the EAP contract because employees do not value the service
- B.Relaunch communication through multiple channels, emphasizing confidentiality and cost, and brief managers so they can refer employees
- C.Add the EAP to the annual performance review goals
- D.Require all employees to attend one EAP session
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Relaunch communication through multiple channels, emphasizing confidentiality and cost, and brief managers so they can refer employees
The survey shows an awareness problem, not a program problem. Clear, repeated communication about confidentiality and cost, supported by managers who know how to refer employees, is the right response. Canceling the program ignores the cause, and mandating sessions or tying the EAP to performance reviews would undermine its voluntary, confidential nature.
Question 5 · Health,Safety,Security,Andprivacy
A maintenance employee refuses to enter a confined space because the atmosphere monitor shows dangerously low oxygen and there is no time to have the hazard corrected through normal channels. His supervisor threatens discipline. What should HR advise?
- A.Reassign the task to another employee without correcting the hazard
- B.Discipline the employee for insubordination
- C.Require the employee to file a written complaint before refusing
- D.Do not discipline the employee, because refusing work that poses an imminent danger is protected, and correct the hazard
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Do not discipline the employee, because refusing work that poses an imminent danger is protected, and correct the hazard
Employees may refuse work when they reasonably believe it presents an imminent danger of death or serious harm and there is no time to eliminate the danger through normal channels, and retaliation for such a refusal is prohibited. The employer must correct the hazard rather than discipline the employee or send someone else into the same danger.
Question 6 · Business Management
A growing company is organized into marketing, finance, operations, and HR departments, each led by a functional manager. Product launches are frequently delayed because departments optimize their own goals and communicate poorly with one another. Which change would most directly address the problem?
- A.Centralize all decisions with the CEO
- B.Create cross-functional product teams with shared launch goals
- C.Add another management layer within each department
- D.Narrow each manager's span of control
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Create cross-functional product teams with shared launch goals
Silos and weak cross-functional coordination are the main weaknesses of a functional structure. Cross-functional teams with shared goals improve collaboration across departments. Narrower spans, more centralization, and additional layers reinforce the vertical structure and slow coordination further.
Question 7 · Workforce Planning and Talent Acquisition
After making conditional offers to ten applicants for a warehouse job, an employer requires a medical examination only of the two applicants who disclosed a disability during interviews. What is the problem?
- A.Post-offer medical exams must be required of all entering employees in the same job category, regardless of disability
- B.Post-offer medical exams are prohibited by the ADA
- C.Medical exams must be limited to employees in safety- sensitive jobs
- D.The exam must be given before the offer to be lawful
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Post-offer medical exams must be required of all entering employees in the same job category, regardless of disability
The ADA permits medical examinations after a conditional offer only if all entering employees in the same job category are examined, and the results are kept confidential and stored separately. Singling out applicants who disclosed a disability is discriminatory. Post- offer exams are lawful, pre-offer exams are prohibited, and they are not limited to safety-sensitive jobs.
Question 8 · Total Rewards
Two employees received "exceeds expectations" ratings. One has a compa-ratio of 0.85, and the other has a compa-ratio of 1.15. Under a typical merit matrix, how will their increases compare?
- A.The employee at 0.85 will receive a larger percentage increase
- B.Both will receive the same percentage because their ratings are the same
- C.Neither will receive an increase because both are outside the midpoint
- D.The employee at 1.15 will receive a larger percentage increase
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. The employee at 0.85 will receive a larger percentage increase
Merit matrices consider both performance and position in range. For equal performance, employees lower in the range receive larger percentage increases so that strong performers move toward the midpoint, while those high in the range receive smaller increases to control progression toward the maximum.
Question 9 · Retentionstrategies
Company-wide voluntary turnover is stable at 12%, but HR finds that the company is losing a much higher proportion of its top-rated performers than of its average performers. Which measure best highlights this problem?
- A.Total turnover rate
- B.Regrettable turnover, the rate at which employees the organization wanted to keep are leaving
- C.Time-to-fill
- D.Involuntary turnover rate
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Regrettable turnover, the rate at which employees the organization wanted to keep are leaving
Regrettable turnover isolates the loss of employees the organization wanted to retain, such as high performers or employees with critical skills, which an overall rate can hide. Involuntary turnover measures terminations, and time-to-fill measures recruiting speed.
Question 10 · Health,Safety,Security,Andprivacy
An employee tests positive for an illegal drug in a reasonable-suspicion test and says he has a disability that should be accommodated. How does the ADA apply?
- A.The employer must wait for a second positive test before acting
- B.The ADA requires the employer to accommodate current illegal drug use
- C.An employee currently engaging in illegal drug use is not protected by the ADA for that use
- D.Drug tests are medical examinations that are prohibited during employment
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. An employee currently engaging in illegal drug use is not protected by the ADA for that use
The ADA excludes employees currently engaging in illegal drug use from its protection, and tests for illegal drugs are not medical examinations. Individuals who are in or have completed rehabilitation and are no longer using drugs are protected. Alcoholism, by contrast, may be a disability.

Keep practicing for the PHR

TTP Prep has 200 PHR practice questions with explanations, timed and mock-exam modes, 83 flashcards, interactive lessons, a printable cheat sheet and a readiness score. Start free, no card needed.

Take a free Quick 10 See everything in the PHR prep