2.2.1

Types of Employment

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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):

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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.
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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.
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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
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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.

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1Business Activity & Influences on Business

2People in Business

3Business Finance

4Marketing

5Business Operations

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