Industrial Relations in HR: Can You Answer These Key Questions?

Industrial relations refer to the relationships between employees and management within an organization.

Look at these questions, and choose the correct answer for each one.

1. What is the name of an employees' organization which represents its members in discussions with employers about wages and conditions of employment? (a) a job union (b) an occupation union (c) a vocation union (d) a work union (e) a trade union

2. What do we call a company which you can only join if you are a member of a particular trade union? (a) a limited shop (b) a full shop (c) a closed shop (d) a barred shop (e) a sweat shop

3. Unions sometimes put pressure on management to keep their members in their jobs or employ more workers, even if the organization doesn't need them anymore. What is the name of this practice? (a) feather weighting (b) feather fanning (c) feather braining (d) feather bedding (e) feather dusting

4. What is the name of an elected union official who represents employees in day-to-day negotiations with the management? (a) a shop steward (b) a store steward (c) a factory steward (d) a workers' steward (e) a department steward

5. Complete this sentence: Ordinary members of a union or organization are known as ________ members. (a) safe and sound (b) rank and file (c) cloak and dagger (d) collar and tie (e) moan and groan

6. A union may stop workers from doing certain jobs, especially if they are not a member of that union. This is known as: (a) restrictive practices (b) recumbent practices (c) reductive practices (d) reactionary practices (e) reality practices

7. Negotiations between employers and workers' representatives over wage increases and conditions are called: (a) collective bargaining (b) correctional bargaining (c) connected bargaining (d) corruptive bargaining (e) collapsing bargaining.

8. If workers are unhappy with the way management is treating them, they may work strictly according to the rules of the company as a protest (with the result that production is slowed down). What do we call this method of protest? (a) rule with a rod of iron (b) work-to-rule (c) ruling the roost (d) ruling in favor (e) work-by-rules.

9. Workers sometimes try to achieve their demands by not going to work and claiming that they are ill. What is the name of this form of protest? (a) a sickie (b) a sick note (c) a sickout (d) sick leave (e) a sickbag.

10. When workers are unhappy with the management, they sometimes stop working and leave the company building as a protest. What is this action called? (a) a walk-out

11. In order to make their workers agree to their conditions, the management of a company may prevent the workers from entering the building. What is this called? (d) a lockout

12. When there is a dispute between workers and management, a person who is not concerned with the dispute might be chosen by both sides to try to settle the dispute. What is this person called? (c) an arbitrator

13. Four of these expressions are correct, and one of them is wrong. Which one is wrong?
(a) to strike
(b) to go on strike
(c) to be on strike
(d) to get on strike
(e) to take strike action

14. What do we call a strike organized suddenly by the workers without the approval of the main union office?
(a) a wildcat strike
(b) a wilddog strike
(c) a wildfire strike
(d) a wildflower strike
(e) a wildcat strike

15. Workers usually vote before a strike to decide if a strike should be held. What is this called?
(a) a strike vote
(b) a strike ballot
(c) a strike election
(d) a strike canvass
(e) a strike poll

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16. What is the name for a worker who is on strike and standing at the entrance of a place of work to try to persuade other employees not to work? (a) a wicket (b) a cricket (c) a ticket (d) a picket (e) a ricket

17. What do we call an employee who continues working when a company is on strike? (a) a blackberry (b) a blackhead (c) a blackbird (d) a blackleg (e) a blacksmith

18. What do we call a strike when all the workers in a country go on strike? (a) a complete strike (b) a formal strike (c) a general strike (d) a country strike (e) a home strike

1. Many employees experience tension or worry at work as a result of overwork, problems with managers, etc. What do we call this? (a) strain (b) struggle (c) strife (d) stress

2. RSI is a pain in the arm or other part of the body felt by somebody who does the same movement many times as part of their job (for example, when keyboarding). What does RSI stand for? (a) repetitive strain injury

3. A lot of office equipment (for example, chairs, keyboards, etc.) is designed to be more comfortable to use and so helps to prevent RSI. What is the adjective we use to describe objects like this? (a) ergonomic

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4. In some places of work, employees are often ill because of problems in the building itself (for example, blocked air-conditioning ducts, poor lighting, poor ventilation, etc.). What is the name of this problem?

(a) ill workplace phenomena
(b) sick building syndrome
(c) unwell office experience
(d) ailing industrial angst

5. Before a company has to do a dangerous job, it needs to consider how dangerous the job is and what precautions it can take. What is this called?

(a) danger analysis
(b) risk assessment
(c) hazard perception
(d) troubleshooting

6. Safety officers inspect some places of work to make sure that they are safe, but in most cases, companies have to make sure that health and safety procedures are being followed in the workplace. What is this called?

(a) self-control
(b) self-satisfaction
(c) self-assessment
(d) self-regulation

Employees have to follow company instructions on how to behave in the workplace, especially when they are working with dangerous equipment or substances. What are these rules called?
(a) rules of the house
(b) codes of practice
(c) regulations of behavior
(d) laws of the land

To some extent, a company is responsible for how its employees behave, and the risks they take while they are at work. What is this called?
(a) vicarious liability
(b) risk liability
(c) limited liability
(d) behavior liability

What do we call an accident that takes place at work?
(a) on-the-job accident
(b) occupational accident
(c) working accident
(d) environmental accident

10. A safety officer might decide that a workplace is too dangerous and orders everyone to stop working. What is the name of this order?

(a) a cancellation notice
(b) a closure notice
(c) a prohibition notice
(d) a barring notice

Hi Jay,

Your questions are really helpful, and in a way, you are doing it right by not posting the answers. At least we go back to our books or get on to Google. Please keep sharing.

Hi, I am Nisha. I am working in a pharmaceutical company. In our company, there is a problem with the workers. They do not listen to the management because they compete with staff members instead of cooperating. They don't try to understand the difference between staff members and workers.

Please reply to me as soon as possible.

Get your answer from the attached files.

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