aPHR study plan

Map the Employee Relations domain into its sub-areas (employee engagement and retention, discipline and corrective action, complaints and investigations, workplace policies, termination and offboarding) and rank each by your current confidence

Define and contrast progressive discipline, just cause, due process, and at-will employment, writing a one-paragraph plain-language explanation of each

Sequence the steps of a workplace investigation - intake, documentation, evidence gathering, interviews, findings, and corrective action - and identify the documentation required at each step

Differentiate voluntary versus involuntary turnover and list three retention levers an HR generalist can actually influence

Distinguish employee relations concepts that are commonly confused - coaching versus counseling, exempt versus nonexempt treatment in discipline, and policy violation versus performance gap

Interpret the core National Labor Relations Act rights affecting non-union workplaces, including protected concerted activity, and describe two scenarios that could trigger a violation

Outline the HR Operations domain structure (HRIS and recordkeeping, HR metrics and analytics, process design, compliance and reporting, shared services and outsourcing)

Compute and interpret five core HR metrics - turnover rate, cost per hire, time to fill, absenteeism rate, and span of control - from sample raw numbers

Apply recordkeeping retention expectations to at least six record types and identify which records are confidential versus disclosable

Explain the purpose and required content of an affirmative action plan and an EEO-1 report at a generalist level

Diagram a human resource information system data flow and identify three data-integrity controls an HR generalist should monitor

Design a simple process-improvement proposal for an HR workflow, including baseline metric, change, and post-change measurement

Write a job analysis for one role that produces a task list, required knowledge and skills, and minimum qualifications

Compare internal versus external recruiting sources and recommend a source mix for two different roles with justification

Sequence a structured selection process and distinguish behavioral, situational, and technical interview questions with an example of each

Apply the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures concepts of adverse impact and the four-fifths rule to a supplied applicant-flow table

Assemble a compliant onboarding checklist distinguishing pre-employment, day-one, and first-90-day activities

Classify compensation components - base pay, variable pay, differentials, and indirect pay - and explain how each supports a pay strategy

Explain how job evaluation, pay grades, and pay ranges are built and used to place a position within a structure

Distinguish exempt from nonexempt status using the salary-level, salary-basis, and duties tests, and apply them to four short scenarios

Summarize the major legally mandated benefits and the compliance rules an HR generalist administers, including leave entitlements, unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation coordination

Compare defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans and describe the vesting and communication issues each raises

Conduct a training needs analysis for a scenario and translate the result into learning objectives written at the observable-behavior level

Match learning methods to objectives and describe how to evaluate training using reaction, learning, behavior, and results levels

Differentiate career development, succession planning, and performance management, naming the owner and output of each

Identify the elements of an effective safety program, including hazard identification, training, recordkeeping, and injury-response steps

Describe the components of a workplace security and emergency-preparedness plan, including evacuation, communication, and post-incident review

Apply OSHA-related recordkeeping and reporting thresholds to sample incident scenarios and determine which cases are recordable

Explain employer responsibilities around workplace violence prevention, ergonomics, and employee assistance resources

Revisit your two lowest-scoring domains from earlier weeks and close each gap with targeted review and re-testing

Solve ten scenario-based questions drawn from Employee Relations and HR Operations, justifying each answer in writing

Build a personal list of the 15 most frequently confused concept pairs across all six domains and write the distinguishing feature for each

Complete two timed full-length practice exams under test-day conditions and record domain-level scores

Re-derive every missed item to its underlying concept rather than memorizing the answer choice

Recite the six domain weightings and the three highest-yield concepts in each without notes

Finalize a one-page pre-exam summary sheet of formulas, legal thresholds, and process sequences