Managing people

MANAGING PEOPLE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
QUESTION 2..................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of different types of employment contracts being implemented..................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The term employment contract has evolved with time where there have been regular trends
related to the modification in the terms and conditions that earlier used to exist for both employer
and employee (Brüll, 2019). In this report, different types of contract will be analysed by taking
appropriate examples of the companies using such type of contracts. Further these techniques
will be analysed from the perspective of both employers and employees.
MAIN BODY
QUESTION 2
Analysis of different types of employment contracts being implemented
With the regular evolution in the employment technique and emerging trends of increased
flexibility of employees, the employment trends have also evolved. The earlier technique of ring
employees on regular basis and paying them in monthly or weekly manner has long evolved and
now many diverse and new techniques have emerged (Guest and Isaksson, 2019). These
modifications mainly involves the technique of using zero hours, part time employment, term
time working etc as the major changes that have occurred in the employment patterns. Each of
these can be evaluated in a different manner and each has their own advantages and
disadvantages for themselves in the context of both employers and employees. These three
techniques that have been identified can be critically evaluated from the perspectives of both
employees and employers in following manner:
Part Time Working: The concept of part time workers is prevalent in the every field of job now
– a – days. This type of employments requires an employee to work for certain number of fixed
hours every day or on a per week basis and they are paid accordingly. This type of employment
is generally done in shifts where they can either work in morning, noon or in night as per their
convenience (De Cuyper and Isaksson, 2017). The common requirement for an employee to be
categorised as part time worker is if they are working for less than 30 hours per week, i.e. if this
condition is complied with then the employee is treated as a part time worker. Sainsbury uses
this technique for majority of its employee force and there are various advantages and
disadvantages that are associated with this kind of technique and these can be evaluated in
following manner:
Advantages and disadvantages for employers:
Advantages Disadvantages
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 This technique helps in the attraction of
employees from a wider pool of
potential candidates.
The costs of employment can be reduced
without the reduction in the number of
employees and can assist heavily in time
of heavy workload periods at Sainsbury
(Mckinlay, 2018).
 It increases the flexibility and enhances
the work life balance for employees as
well.
 It leads to reduction in the absenteeism
ratio amongst the employees and
removes tardiness as well at Sainsbury
making them work more efficiently for
limited number of hours.
 It can create difficulty in creating
schedules conducting meetings or in
coordination required in projects for
different employees.
 It can also lead to understaffing in the
Sainsbury at various points of times.
 The remaining employees in the
organisation can be taken as less
committed and unorganized and the job
duties can also constantly change thus
creating misbalance in the work place
i.e. at Sainsbury.
 The names and other benefits that are
received by the employees can be
seriously affected by this kind of
employment mechanism.
Advantages and disadvantages for employees:
Advantages Disadvantages
 Flexibility is the key advantage behind
using this technique where students,
mothers, voluntary workers are the
most benefitted section of employees.
 The ease of fulfilling other necessary
roles and duties along with the ones
that are arising in the terms of
employment is another added
advantage.
 The workers are still able to earn
regular salaries contributing in their
income.
 There are various benefits that
employees working in this manner
cannot enjoy such as health insurance,
sick leaves, paid leaves, vacations etc.
 In times of crisis, the part time workers
are the first people to be laid off by the
company before those who have been
working on a permanent basis (Laß and
Wooden, 2020).
 The promotion of such employees is
also at a very lower scale and they might
not receive appraisals as well even after
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having adequate talent.
Therefore, it can be evaluated that there are various benefits as well as disadvantages for
this kind of employment technique that is being used. But despite the disadvantages, the benefits
of this technique far more outweighs the potential disadvantages thus making it a preferable
choice in today’s flexible environment.
Zero Hours: The technique of zero hours contract is a very innovative idea under which there is
basically no permanent employment contract between the employer and the so called employee
(Alexander and Haley, 2015). The employers here basically contract the employees whenever the
need for the work arises or when there is excessive work load and the employees are paid on the
number of hours worked basis i.e. there is a fixed charge for every hour. The employer has no
mandatory boundations to given job compulsorily to them and the employees are also having the
freedom to accept the work that has been offered as per their own convenience. JD Wetherspoon
Plc is one such organisation i.e. pub that is using this type of employment technique (JD
Wetherspoon to offer staff chance to escape from zero-hours contracts, 2019). The different
advantages and disadvantages of this kind of employment technique can be evaluated in
following context for both employer and employees:
Advantages and disadvantages for employers:
Advantages Disadvantages
 The first major advantage is related to
the flexibility aspect where the
employers can invite and hire the
workers as and when the need for it
arises.
 For instance, at JD Wetherspoon as
well, when the pub is busy on certain
nights or for particular number of hours
and then they are relieved (Freedland,
2016).
 This method is an extremely feasible
technique where hiring employees as
and when the need for them occurs and
 The unpredictability is the major
disadvantages for the employer. There is
no guarantee or assurability that the
required employee will turn up as and
when required. This lack of availability
can cause major problems for the
company as a whole.
 The worker is not properly controlled
and managed i.e. since the employee can
work for another employer as well, this
can cause serious threat to the privacy
and planning of the organisation if the
other employer is the one belonging to
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additional rights also need not be given.
 The last major benefit is that the
productivity of the workers at JD
Wetherspoon increases by the
implementation of this technique and
they are able to effectively improve the
work quality due to the choice that is
available.
the competitor.
Advantages and disadvantages for employees:
Advantages Disadvantages
Despite the lack of the proper title of
employee, the workers under the zero
hour contracts are entitled to a certain
number of rights such as National
Minimum wage, right of statutory paid
leaves, permission of rest breaks etc.
There are many legal benefits that are
available under this type of contract.
Flexibility is a benefit for the worker here
as well where they can easily accept of
decline the request according to their
comfort.

 Unpredictability is again a disadvantage
for the worker here as well. There is no
guarantee related to the availability of
work. This can cause the workers
problem in the difficult times when they
require work but there is no employment
available.
 The employee does not have the right to
request for flexibility i.e. they have to
either go as soon as they are called or
cancel the request (Whitehead and
Phippen, 2015). This can be troublesome
when employee is in need of work but
cannot go at that particular point of time.
Therefore, there are several advantages as well as disadvantages that were evaluated and
overall the technique does not seem to be a very feasible or good option for the employees as
well as the employers.
Term Time Working: This is another very effective technique of employment under which the
employers calls the potential employee to work for a particular number of weeks or hours every
year i.e. it is on an annual basis. The contract that is entered into by the employer and the
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employee can be for either full time employment or on a part time basis for those particular
numbers of hours or weeks (Arnow-Richman, 2016). This kind of technique is generally adopted
in colleges and universities where they tend to hire professors for a limited time period in the
entire year. Walsall College is an example of such colleges that hire mentors for a limited
number of hours in the entire year and pay them accordingly. There are however certain
advantages and disadvantages that are associated with such type of employment technique which
can be analyzed in following manner:
Advantages and disadvantages for employers:
Advantages Disadvantages
The college will be able to retain the key
staff in the college and the additional
staffs that are required can be hired
amongst the wider pool of candidates
that are available for the desired job
role.
The employees can be hired according to
the different seasonal requirements and
this helps immensely in maintain the
costs as additional salaries can be given
only when the need for those arise thus
benefitting in the cost retention (De
Cuyper, De Witte and Isaksson, 2017).
Lastly the quality of work that is being
performed gets improved heavily which
creates better productivity of the
employees as the expert knowledge
related to that particular work field can
be easily obtained.
The major disadvantage is that this can
create inconsistency in the organisation
i.e. they might not be able or maintina the
positive productivity throughout the year
in all their ventures.
For instance if the students become familiar
with the teaching of a particular teacher
then they might require their assistance
further in the future but cannot access it.
Another major disadvantage is that
sometimes even wrong or unworthy
employees can be entered into contract
which ultimately creates double loss
making situation for the organization thus
creating disadvantage for the employer.
Advantages and disadvantages for employees:
Advantages Disadvantages
For employees, the major advantages are  The limited number of employment
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that they can work for a certain time
period and then spend the rest of the
time with their family. For instance, the
teachers are given off when the college
is closed and this is the time when the
teachers can enjoy time own their family
and children.
The term time employees have all the
rights and claims to the different rights
that are entitled to the employees thus
allowing them to be more flexible and
this is the greatest advantage.
hours or weeks is again a disadvantage
here as well where it can get difficult to
earn money in the times when there is
no work available.
 Another disadvantage is that there is still
not the benefit of fixed term employee
and the prestige that is associated with
this kind of permanent job (Marica,
2018).
Therefore, it can be evaluated that the advantages that this kind of employment method
offers are far more than the disadvantages that have been identified. This is the best technique
that is being used in the educational field due to the feasibility that is gives to both employees
and employers.
CONCLUSION
The research conducted in the report above helps in concluding that the employment types
and contracts variety has definitely increased in the past years where a variety of new contracts
are emerging. The report evaluated the three major employment contracts types i.e. part time,
zero hour contract and term time contracts. On the basis of critical analysis that was done
regarding the perspective of both employers and employee, it can be adequately said that the best
technique was the term time contract where the flexibility and assurance of the job both is
maintained along with quality work as well. Thus this report was very effective in identifying
and concluding the changes in the employment trends.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alexander, C. and Haley‐Lock, A., 2015. Underwork, Work‐Hour Insecurity, and A New
Approach to Wage and Hour Regulation. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and
Society. 54(4). pp.695-716.
Arnow-Richman, R., 2016. Modifying At-Will Employment Contracts. BCL Rev.. 57. p.427.
Brüll, E., 2019. Restrictions of fixed term employment contracts: Evidence from a German
reform. ZEW-Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper, (19-034).
De Cuyper, N. and Isaksson, K., 2017. Employment contracts and well-being among European
workers. Routledge.
De Cuyper, N., De Witte, H. and Isaksson, K., 2017. Employment Contracts—How to Deal With
Diversity?. In Employment contracts and well-being among European workers (pp. 15-
34). Routledge.
Freedland, M. R., 2016. The contract of employment and the paradoxes of precarity.
Guest, D.E. and Isaksson, K., 2019. Temporary employment contracts and employee well-being
during and after the financial crisis: Introduction to the special issue.
Laß, I. and Wooden, M., 2020. Temporary employment contracts and household income. Social
Indicators Research. 147(1). pp.111-132.
Marica, M.E., 2018. Positive and negative implications entailed by fixed-term employment
contracts. Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems. 17(1). pp.153-
166.
Mckinlay, N.G., 2018. LONG WORKING HOURS, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL
STRESSORS, AND POOR HEALTH: THE EFFECT OF FLEXIBLE EMPLOYMENT
CONTRACTS ON WORKERS’PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
HEALTH. American Journal of Medical Research. 5(2). pp.64-69.
Whitehead, O. and Phippen, A., 2015. An investigation into the ideas and effects of zero-hour
contracts within the United Kingdom. Journal of Research Studies in Business and
Management. 1(1). pp.189-209.
Online
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JD Wetherspoon to offer staff chance to escape from zero-hours contracts. 2019. [Online].
Available through: <https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/sep/12/jd-wetherspoon-
sports-direct-zero-hours-contracts>
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