PHR Practice Test

PHR Workforce Planning & Talent Acquisition Practice Questions

Workforce Planning & Talent Acquisition makes up 7 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest PHR practice test. Here are 10 of the 28 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.

Updated 2026-11-10 by the Tigertest team. Based on the HRCI PHR Exam Content Outline (2024). Original questions; 50 per test, weighted like the real 115-question exam. 70% is Tigertest's readiness line; HRCI reports a scaled score. Not affiliated with HRCI.

1. 1. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act applies to private employers with at least how many employees?

   • A.100
   • B.15
   • C.20
   • D.50

   Answer: B. Title VII covers employers with 15 or more employees for 20 or more weeks in the current or prior year. The ADEA uses 20, the FMLA 50.

2. 2. A hiring process selects 60% of white applicants and 42% of Black applicants. Under the four-fifths rule, the selection rate ratio is:

   • A.82%, showing adverse impact
   • B.82%, showing no adverse impact
   • C.70%, showing no adverse impact
   • D.70%, showing adverse impact

   Answer: D. 42 / 60 = 0.70. A group's rate below 80% of the highest group's rate is evidence of adverse impact under the 1978 Uniform Guidelines.

3. 3. Which characteristic can never be a bona fide occupational qualification under Title VII?

   • A.Race
   • B.National origin
   • C.Sex
   • D.Religion

   Answer: A. Title VII allows a BFOQ for sex, religion or national origin where reasonably necessary to the business. It allows none for race or color.

4. 4. A neutral job requirement screens out a protected group and is not related to the job. This is:

   • A.Quid pro quo
   • B.Retaliation
   • C.Disparate impact
   • D.Disparate treatment

   Answer: C. Disparate impact is a neutral practice with a disproportionate effect that is not job related and consistent with business necessity, as in Griggs v. Duke Power and the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

5. 5. Under the ADA, when may an employer require a medical exam of a job applicant?

   • A.With the application form
   • B.Only after six months' service
   • C.After a conditional offer
   • D.Before the first interview

   Answer: C. The ADA bars medical exams and disability questions before an offer. After a conditional offer, an exam is allowed if all entering employees in the job get one.

6. 6. Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act, a new hire must complete Section 1 of Form I-9 by:

   • A.The first day of work
   • B.The end of the first week
   • C.The first payday
   • D.The third business day

   Answer: A. Section 1 is due by the first day of employment. The employer must complete Section 2, examining documents, within three business days of the start date.

7. 7. An employer must keep a former employee's Form I-9 for:

   • A.1 year after leaving in all cases
   • B.3 years from hire or 1 year after leaving, whichever is earlier
   • C.5 years from the date of hire in all cases
   • D.3 years from hire or 1 year after leaving, whichever is later

   Answer: D. The retention rule is three years after the hire date or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.

8. 8. A candidate offers a U.S. passport for Form I-9. What else should the employer ask for?

   • A.A birth certificate
   • B.Nothing more
   • C.A Social Security card
   • D.A driver's license

   Answer: B. A U.S. passport is a List A document, proving both identity and work authorization. Asking for more or specific documents is unfair documentary practice.

9. 9. Before getting a background report from a consumer reporting agency, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the employer to:

   • A.Post a notice in the break room
   • B.Give a separate disclosure and get consent
   • C.Tell the candidate after the hiring decision
   • D.Get the state's approval first

   Answer: B. The FCRA requires a clear disclosure in a document of its own and the applicant's written authorization before the report is obtained.

10. 10. A background report leads an employer to consider rejecting a candidate. Under the FCRA, the employer must first:

    • A.Call the candidate's references for more detail
    • B.Ask the agency to delete it
    • C.Reject the candidate at once
    • D.Send a pre-adverse action notice

    Answer: D. The pre-adverse action notice includes a copy of the report and the summary of rights, so the person can dispute errors before the final adverse action notice.