How an Organisation Obtains the Co-Operation of Their Employees and Also Explaining Contracts of Employment in More Depth and How These Contracts Vary

Activity 3- P4

For this task i will be explain how an organisation obtains the co-operation of their employees and also explaining contracts of employment in more depth and how these contracts vary.

Contracts of employment

A contract is made and agreed between the employer and an employee which states that a specific salary will be offered in return of the employee performing the list of duties the job requires.

However it is not necessary for an employee to sign a contract straight away, it must be signed within 2 months of employment. Once this has then been signed, a copy will be given to the employee so both parties have the contract.

There are contractual entitlements that are inserted into the contract so that it is fully clear to both the employer and employee what is expected and the terms and conditions. Below are some of the entitlements required:

• Amount of pay and the expectation date
• Hours required to work (not including over time)
• The type of employment (E.g. Part-Time/Full-Time)
• Sick/Holiday Pay
• Disciplinary Rules
• Notice Period

Employee and employer rights:

There are various rights written within a contract some of which are statutory (Legal Rights) and some of which are voluntary. A few of the statutory rights for an employee that are included are;

• Equal Pay: This means that each employee that does the same job role should receive the same wage as each other.

• No Discrimination: No employees should be unfairly treated. Therefore every employee should be treated with the same respect and rules regardless of their gender and race etc.

• Dismissal: When an employee is dismissed they don't always have to give an employee notice, however the employee should be told an official and valid reason for the dismissal. If the dismissal seems to be unfair then the employee can file a report.

• Redundancy Pay: If an employer has to make an employee redundant then this employee is entitled redundancy pay which is based on the period of time the employee has worked within the company and their job role.

Employer’s also have rights and responsibilities for ensuring that an employee follows health and safety and that the environment is a safe place for an employee to work in, also that an employee will give notice either before leaving or if they require maternity/paternity leave.

Types of Contracts:

There are various types of employment contracts that companies can offer based on different job roles these include:

• Permanent contracts: These contracts are between the employer and employee and is an official agreement either part-time or full-time by which the employee will work within the company until the employee/employer decides to change this. These are also the most common types of contracts offered.

• Temporary contracts: This type of contract can be offered as a fixed-term basis, therefore there will be fixed dates given that an employee will be required to work E.g. 10 hours per week for 6 months.

• Term-Time contracts: These tend to be offered to employees who work within education E.g. Schools/colleges and who are parents. The ability to be able to offer a term-time contract is becoming popular as employers are becoming more aware that parents need to be able to have flexible working times. Therefore by offering this, it will help retain current employees to stay within the company.  

• Zero hours: These contracts do not specify the amount of hours needed to work and are based on the employee being fully flexible. Therefore these are popular within retail as over busy periods more employees may be needed. However, although employers are not entitled to offer the employee work, when called the employee must be able to accept the offer.

• Self-employed contracts: This type of contract is when they don’t have a contract with an employer, they are in fact are their own boss and are running a business. Therefore it is down to them to ensure their holiday/sick pay/taxes/national insurance is all sorted out. For example; beauty therapists, builders, electricians may be self-employed.

Codes of Behaviour and Disciplinary Procedures

Disciplinary procedures are vital and therefore should be followed by all organisations, they are set so that the employees and employers know the procedures to follow if an employee happens to be given a warning, or is dismissed.  

Below is the disciplinary procedure that the employer is to perform.

1, Establishing the facts of each case