The contract of employment: 

a legal agreement between the employer and the employee listing the rights and
responsibilities of workers. It will include:
 the name of employer and employee
 job title
 date when employment will begin
 hours to work
 rate of pay and other benefits
 when payment is made
 holiday entitlement
 the amount of notice to be given to terminate the employment that the employer
or employee must give to end the employment etc.

Employment contracts can be part-time or full-time. Part-time employment is often

considered to be between 1 and 30-35 hours a week whereas full-time
employment will usually work 35 hours or more a week.

Advantages to employer of part-time employment (disadvantages of full-time

employment to employer):

 more flexible hours of work

 easier to ask employees just to work at busy times
 easier to extend business opening/operating hours by working evenings or at
weekends
 works lesser hours so employee is willing to accept lower pay
 less expensive than employing and paying full-time workers.

Disadvantages to employer of part-time employment  (advantages of full-time

employment to employers)
 less likely to be trained because the workers see the job as temporary
 takes longer to recruit two part-time workers than one full-time worker
 can be less committed to the business/ more likely to leave and go get another
job
 less likely to be promoted because they will not have gained the skills and
experience as full-time employees
 more difficult to communicate with part-time workers when they are not in work-
all work at different times.
Training

Training is important to a business as it will improve the worker’s skills and

knowledge and help the business be more efficient and productive, especially
when new processes and products are introduced. It will improve the workers’ chances
at getting promoted and raise their morale.
The three types of training are:

 Induction training: an introduction given to a new employee, explaining the

firm’s activities, customs and procedures and introducing them to their fellow
workers.
Advantages:

 Helps new employees to settle into their job quickly

 May be a legal requirement to give health and safety training before
the start of work
 Less likely to make mistakes
Disadvantages:
 Time-consuming
 Wages still have to be paid during training, even though they aren’t
working
 Delays the state of the employee starting the job
 On-the-job training: occurs by watching a more experienced worker doing
the job
Advantages:
 It ensures there is some production from worker whilst they are training
 It usually costs less than off-the-job training
 It is training to the specific needs of the business
Disadvantages:
 The trainer will lose some production time as they are taking some
time to teach the new employee
 The trainer may have bad habits that can be passed onto the trainee
 It may not necessarily be recognised training qualifications outside the
business
 Off-the-job training: involves being trained away from the workplace, usually
by specialist trainers
Advantages:
 A broad range of skills can be taught using these techniques
 Employees may be taught a variety of skills and they may become
multi-skilled that can allow them to do various jobs in the company
when the need arises.
Disadvantages:
 Costs are high
 It means wages are paid but no work is being done by the worker
 The additional qualifications means it is easier for the employee to
leave and find another job
 
Workforce Planning

Workforce Planning: the establishing of the workforce needed by the business for the
foreseeable future in terms of the number and skills of employees required.
They may have to downsize (reduce the no. of employees) the workforce because of:

 Introduction of automation
 Falling demand for their products
 Factory/shop/office closure
 Relocating factory abroad
 A business has merged or been taken over and some jobs are no longer needed
They can downsize the workforce in two ways:

 Dismissal: where a worker is told to leave their job because their work or
behaviour is unsatisfactory. Employment is ended against the will of the
employee.
 Redundancy: when an employee is no longer needed and so loses their work,
though not due to any fault of theirs. They may be given some money as
compensation for the redundancy.
Which workers to make redundant
 Some workers may volunteer and be happy to be made redundant
 Length of time employed by the business- it may be expensive to make
long-term serving employees redundant since they have the most
experience.
 Workers with essential skills that are needed by the business are often
retained
 Employment history of the worker- whether they had a good or bad
attendance, punctuality or appraisal record.

Worker could also resign (they are leaving because they have found another job) and
retire (they are getting old and want to stop working).

 
Legal Controls over Employment Issues
There are lot so government laws that affect equal employment opportunities. These
laws require businesses to treat their employees equally in the workplace and when
being recruited and selected- there should be no discrimination based on age, gender,
religion, race etc.

Employees are protected in many areas including

 against unfair discrimination- This is when workers are treated differently

because they are of different race or color, belong to a different religion,
are of the opposite sex, considered too young or too old for the job,
disabled in some way.
 health and safety at work (protection from dangerous machinery, safety
clothing and equipment, hygiene conditions, medical aid, long working shifts that
do not have short breaks.)
 against unfair dismissal-occurs when an employer ends a worker’s contract
of employment for a reason that is not covered by that contract
 wage protection (through the contract of employment since it will have listed the
pay and conditions). Many countries have a legal minimum wage– the minimum
wage an employer has to pay its employee. This avoids employers from
exploiting its employees, and encourages more people to find work, but since
costs are rising for the business, they may make many workers redundant-
unemployment will rise.
An industrial tribunal is a legal meeting which considers workers’ complaints of unfair
dismissal or discrimination at work. This will hear both sides of the case and may give
the worker compensation if the dismissal was unfair.