PHR SHRM HR Exam Questions & Answers 2026 (11–20)

Question 1

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), before taking adverse action based on a third-party background report, an employer must first provide the applicant:

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

A pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights. FCRA requires a pre-adverse-action notice (with the report and the CFPB summary of rights) so the applicant can dispute inaccuracies before a final decision.

Question 2

Form I-9 is used by U.S. employers to:

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

Verify an employee's identity and authorization to work. Form I-9 documents verification of identity and employment authorization; tax withholding is handled by Form W-4.

Question 3

Federal law requires employers to report newly hired employees to a state directory primarily to:

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

Support child-support enforcement. New-hire reporting feeds the State Directory of New Hires, used chiefly to locate parents for child-support order enforcement.

Question 4

Workforce planning that forecasts future talent supply and demand to close gaps is part of:

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

Strategic talent management. Workforce planning aligns talent supply and demand with business strategy, identifying gaps to address through hiring, development, or restructuring.

Question 5

Which practice most directly broadens a diverse applicant pool without resorting to unlawful quotas?

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

Expanding sourcing channels and using structured, criteria-based selection. Widening sourcing plus structured, job-related criteria expands diversity lawfully; rigid quotas can constitute illegal discrimination.

Question 6

If total internal recruiting costs are $30,000 and external costs are $20,000 for 25 hires, the cost-per-hire is:

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

$2,000. Cost-per-hire = (internal + external costs) / number of hires = $50,000 / 25 = $2,000.

Question 7

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) primarily helps recruiters by:

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

Managing and screening candidate applications through the hiring funnel. An ATS centralizes requisitions, resumes, screening, and pipeline status to streamline recruiting workflow.

Question 8

Negligent hiring liability is most likely when an employer:

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

Fails to investigate a known risk relevant to the job and harm results. Negligent hiring arises when an employer knew or should have known of a risk (e.g., relevant violent history for a sensitive role) and failed to act, leading to foreseeable harm.

Question 9

Content validity of a selection test is best demonstrated when:

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

The test sample mirrors the actual job content. Content validity exists when test content is a representative sample of the actual tasks/knowledge required on the job.

Question 10

Many former employers limit reference disclosures to dates of employment and title primarily to:

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

Reduce defamation liability. Limiting references reduces exposure to defamation claims, though qualified-privilege protections exist for good-faith truthful statements.

PHR SHRM HR Exam Questions & Answers 2026 (11–20)

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