Concept, Types and Forms of Employment

Employment
as a social and economic category
is a totality of economic, legal, social, national and the other relations which are connected with provision labour force with jobs and their participation in social utility activity which brings them income.

Employees can organize into trade or labor unions, which represent the work force to collectively bargain with the management of organisations about working and contractual conditions.

Types of employment
Full Employment
A situation in which all available labor resources are being used in the most economically efficient way. Full employment embodies the highest amount of skilled and unskilled labor that could be employed within an economy at any given time. The remaining unemployment is frictional.

Effective employment
secures balance between demand and supply of labour force, accordance available amount of working position with professionally-qualification labour force.

Rational employment.
Is defined with efficiency of labour activity and with combination of full and effective employment. It defined with social utility of results of the work, with optimality of social division of labour, with economic expediency of working places.

Forms of employment
Full-time permanent work is regular and ongoing work of between 35 to 45 hours (full-time employees are paid a weekly wage and yearly salary) which includes non-wage entitlements and benefits like paid holiday leave, sick leave and long-service leave.

Part-time permanent work is regular and ongoing, involves fewer hours than full-time work and usually set days or set hours. Non-wage benefits and entitlements (sick leave, annual leave and holiday pay) are received by part-time employees on a pro-rata (proportional) basis. Sick leave is based on the hours worked over two weeks and annual leave on hours worked over four weeks. Awards and agreements (legal documents specifying minimum pay and conditions) may specify the hours of part-time work.

Casual work - employees are employed on an irregular basis as needed. They can work as many hours as agreed (between the employer and the employee). They:
- have no expectation of ongoing employment;
- are free to refuse offers of work;
- are paid a loading (a minimum of 20 per cent, but some awards provide for a higher loading), but no personal or sick leave or annual leave entitlement;
- are entitled to unpaid bereavement leave; and
- are entitled to long service leave (conditions apply).

Self-employed - workers are also known as independent contractors or sub-contractors. These people work for themselves, so they control the hours and amount of work they do. Many tradespeople, for example, are self-employed or are sub-contracted by businesses like real estate agents. There are certain taxation benefits for self-employed workers to compensate for the risks of not finding work. Self-employed workers are reliant on the availability of work in their particular field.

Fixed term employment (also known as contract work) is used for single projects or to replace workers on leave. It is common for fixed term employees to not receive entitlements like paid sick leave.

Apprenticeships and traineeships are fixed term employments (usually three to five years) for the purpose of employment training. Apprentices typically learn a trade, such as plumbing, and trainees typically learn non-trades occupations, such as secretarial work. Apprentices and trainees usually perform work duties on-site and learn about the job off-site as well. A specified base rate of pay is given to cover the employment period, which works like a study-based payment.

Probationary employment is a standard requirement for employees commencing full-time or part-time work. It involves an initial period of employment, usually one to six months, where employers assess whether an employee is capable of fulfilling the requirements of a job. If this is the case, employment is usually then confirmed permanent part-time or permanent full-time.

Piece work is employment where a person receives payment for a certain number of items, for example five boxes of fruit for a fruit picker or a measured amount of a commodity, for example one tonne of sand.

Voluntary work is unpaid work. Many charities (non-profit organisations) rely on voluntary workers, because their main purpose is to provide free services to the community, for example Meals on Wheels for the aged population. People work voluntarily for a number of reasons including to use free time productively, to develop skills, to help the community or to contribute to fundraising.

Commission-based employment is pay based on reaching sales targets. A commission is usually a percentage rate of pay per item sold. A 'commission and retainer' employment includes a base pay rate plus commissions, which work like bonuses.

Wage labour
Wage labour (or wage labor) is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer, where the worker sells their labour under a formal or informal employment contract. These transactions usually occur in a labour market where wages are market determined.

Work Time
A normal work week is eight hours per day 5 days a
week (40 hours per week). For employees whose job
position naturally requires to work in excess of 8 hours
a day from time to time Work on weekends,
holidays, during nightime is permitted without any
special authorisation, if justi­ed by the nature of
business and appropriately compensated (normally,
at double of the employee’s usual rate). Alternative
work hours arrangements are possible, which allow
individuals to work 60-hours’ weeks.
The duration and number of breaks depends on the
total number of hours worked per day. Employees are
entitled to at least one meal break of at least 30
Minutes.