6.3.1

Contracts

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Contracts of Employment

A contract of employment is a legal agreement between a business and an employee. It contains information on the pay of the employee, their roles, the start and end date of their employment and the hours they will work. It also gives information on sick leave, holiday pay and maternity or paternity leave. There are different types of employment (and contracts):

Part-time

Part-time

  • A part time contract is a form of employment where people work less hours per week than people with a full-time job.
  • These employees usually work in shifts and usually work under 30 hours per week.
  • Part-time employment contracts can be better for both businesses and employees because they offer more flexibility. If the business is only busy at certain times of the week or certain months in the year then part-time contracts can be helpful.
Full-time

Full-time

  • A full-time contract is a contract where the employee will work a minimum number of hours. This number is defined by the contract.
  • Full-time employment contracts give businesses more control over the hours that employees work. Employees work a minimum number of hours each week and this gives businesses and employees certainty.
  • For employees, although part time contracts offer greater flexibility, full time contracts offer certain benefits that are not typically offered by part time contracts.
Job share

Job share

  • A job share happens when two people share a full-time job.
  • This is good because it gives the employees more flexibility and for a business, it guarantees the number of hours that will be worked.
  • But, organising a job share can be hard and it requires very good communication between the two employees and the business
Zero-hour contracts

Zero-hour contracts

  • Zero-hour contracts are contracts where a business does not have to give a person any work at all and the employee doesn’t have to accept any work offered to them.
  • They are beneficial for businesses because they provide the maximum amount of flexibility. This means they are less likely to waste money on unnecessary labour costs.
  • However, they can be bad for employee motivation because the employees won’t feel a high level of commitment to a company.

The Value of Outsourcing

Outsourcing is when a business uses another business to make part of its product or provide part of its service.

Advantages of outsourcing

Advantages of outsourcing

  • Outsourcing can provide cost savings because a third-party business may be able to create or produce a product or service at a lower cost than the original business.
Disadvantages of outsourcing

Disadvantages of outsourcing

  • Outsourcing can lead to quality problems if the business which is outsourced to does not uphold the same quality standards.
  • The business may lose its influence on quality control.
Jump to other topics
1

Exploring Business

1.1

Features of Business Organisations

1.1.1Sole Traders & Partnerships1.1.2Private & Public Limited Companies1.1.3Types of Liability & Not-For-Profits1.1.4Purposes of Businesses1.1.5Purposes of Businesses 21.1.6The Different Economic Sectors1.1.7Multinational Companies1.1.8Stakeholders1.1.9Influence of Stakeholders
1.2

Organisation of Businesses

1.2.1Organisational Structure1.2.2Types of Organisational Structures1.2.3Business Aims & Objectives1.2.4Business Aims1.2.5Business Objectives
1.3

Business Environment

1.3.1External Influences1.3.2Political & Legal Change1.3.3Economic Environment1.3.4Social & Technological Environment1.3.5Lifestyle & Technological Environment1.3.6Corporate Social Responsibility1.3.7The Competitive Environment1.3.8Innovation1.3.9Risk & Uncertainty1.3.10Porter's Five Forces1.3.11SWOT Analysis
2

Marketing Campaigns

2.1

Marketing

2.1.1Setting Marketing Objectives2.1.2Customer Needs2.1.3The Market2.1.4Competition & The Market2.1.5Consumer Behaviour2.1.6Market Research2.1.7Forms of Market Research2.1.8Market Segmentation2.1.9Cultural & Social Factors in Marketing2.1.10Promotional Decisions 32.1.11Pricing Strategies
2.2

Marketing Mix

2.2.1Marketing Mix2.2.2Product Life Cycle2.2.3Pricing Decisions & Price Skimming2.2.4Pricing Decisions & Price Penetration2.2.5Promotional Decisions2.2.6Promotional Decisions 22.2.7Promotional Decisions 32.2.8Market Mapping
3

Business Finance

3.1

Sources of Finance

3.1.1Internal Finance3.1.2External Finance3.1.3External Finance 23.1.4Sources of Business Finance
3.2

Financial Planning

3.2.1Revenue3.2.2Costs3.2.3Cash & Cash Flow3.2.4Cash & Cash Flow 23.2.5Break-Even Analysis3.2.6Profits
3.3

Financial Statements

3.3.1Balance Sheets3.3.2Income Statements3.3.3Liquidity
4

International Business

4.1

Globalisation

4.1.1Growing Economies4.1.2Specialisation & Trade
4.2

International Business

4.2.1Internationalisation4.2.2International Trade4.2.3MNCS4.2.4Conditions that Prompt Trade4.2.5Assessment of a Country
4.3

International Economic Environment

4.3.1Globalisation4.3.2Factors Contributing to Globalisation4.3.3Protectionism4.3.4The EU & the WTO4.3.5Trading Blocs
4.4

Factors Affecting International Business

4.4.1Global Competitiveness4.4.2Ethics of Global Business4.4.3Controlling MNCs4.4.4Cultural & Social Factors in Marketing
5

Principles of Management

5.1

Management & Leadership

5.1.1Managers5.1.2Management Theories5.1.3Managing Organisational Culture5.1.4Management Style
5.2

Theories of Motivation

5.2.1Motivating & Engaging Employees5.2.2Taylor's Theory5.2.3Mayo's Theory5.2.4Maslow's Theory5.2.5Herzberg's Theory
5.3

Managing Change

5.3.1Change5.3.2Key Factors in Change5.3.3Scenario Planning5.3.4Managing Change5.3.5Managing Strategic Implementation
6

Business Decision Making

6.1

Business Principles & Practices

6.1.1Influences in External Environments6.1.2Product Decisions6.1.3Competitive Environment6.1.4Corporate Strategy6.1.5Quantitative Sales Forecasting6.1.6Legislation
6.2

Quality Management

6.2.1Importance of Quality6.2.2Measuring Quality6.2.3Total Quality Management6.2.4Evaluating TQM
6.3

Human Resources

6.3.1Contracts6.3.2Recruitment6.3.3Training a Workforce
6.4

Documents & Business Decisions

6.4.1Sales Forecasts6.4.2Managing Strategic Implementation6.4.3Problems with Strategy

Practice questions on Contracts

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    What information does a contract of employment contain?Fill in the list
  2. 2
    What type of contract would be most useful for a business that is only busy at certain times of the week or certain months in the year?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Which of these is an employee benefit of full-time contracts compared to other types?Multiple choice
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Evaluating TQM

Recruitment