What Is an Employment Agreement?

Employment is basically a relationship between two individuals, usually based on contractual employment where one party, who may be a firm, corporation, not-for-profit organization, co-operatives, government or other legal entity is the employer and another is the employee. The employment relationship is established through an agreement between the two parties. In a very broad sense, employment includes all types of serviced employment including housekeeping, transportation, clerical, personal service, retail sales, production, administration support, data entry and any other kind of employment which provide work to the individual either directly or indirectly. It also covers all types of employment which involves the transfer of skills or knowledge from one individual to another, even if they are not in direct contact.

Employment has become an indispensable part of our day-to-day life and is now a major mode of livelihood for many people in UK. There are various types of employment including full time, part time, contract and casual employees. However, there is an important distinction between these different types of employment. The main difference is that while a contract employee is an employee for a specific fixed period of time, a casual employee is an employee who is hired on the basis of his ability to work for a particular company and the right to hire more people to work for that company.

Full time employment is where an individual hires you for a definite period of time. The person may not tell you what the duration of his contract will be. The important aspect of full-time employment is that it can only be exercised by the consent of the employer. In case of part-time employment, the employer can employ you for a definite number of hours each week for a fixed term. If you decide to quit the job after the fixed term, then you have to give notice to your employer.

A common practice in the UK employment market is for an employment opportunity to be advertised for a short period of time and then the contracts to end after some weeks or months. This practice is called 'em ploy ment'. It is recommended that, instead of advertising for a fixed period of time, one should advertise for a part-time position. This gives one the leverage of choosing the best type of job according to his skills. However, if one chooses full-time employment, then he is bound to work for a definite period of time irrespective of the type of position he was hired for.

There are several benefits of hiring part-time workers over full-time employees. Firstly, a part-time employee can be hired at any time; whereas full-time employees cannot be hired during periods when they are not available. This practice is also advantageous in certain circumstances. For instance, a small business may need a few casual employees to work on weekends.

Full-time and casual employees are both eligible to participate in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) scheme. Full-time employees have an advantage of earning more than the amount specified in the weekly rate, while casual employees have an advantage of earning less than the rate specified in the daily rate. In order to qualify for the National Minimum Wage (NMW), a worker must receive a specified number of working hours each week. If an employee is employed for fewer hours than the weekly rate, he gets paid only the difference between the hours he actually works and the number of hours the employer opts for.