Contracts of employment, working conditions and benefits

Contracts of employment, working conditions and benefits

Part 2

 

What are the advantages and disadvantages to the employer of hiring a freelance worker?

Advantages:

The advantages for hiring a freelance worker would be; that they cost less – this is because the freelancers you only pay them for the work they actually do and therefore none of your money is wasted on them being sick, or on holiday and would have to pay them as if you would hire a part – time or full – time employee (you would need to pay for holiday and sick).

Another advantage would be that freelancers only specialized in one specific thing, and this is what you actually hire them for. For example, a web designer has to design websites. This is a massive advantage because they do the same job day in and day out because they don’t need no training or certifications to ‘complete other jobs’, they focus on one (day in and day out).

Disadvantages:

The disadvantages for hiring a freelance worker would be; that they most freelance workers intend to ‘disappear’. In this case, most freelance works are on time especially on a distance working for example over the internet and normally the first week everything is good. The work gets turned in on time, and the work is of a high quality. However, something happens and you don’t really know but the work gets delayed, and the quality/effort becomes poorer and then eventually they just leave. Yes, you could just reemployed but it’s very time consuming, especially when trying to clean up their mess in the meantime.

 

What are the advantages and disadvantages to the employee in working on a freelance basis?

 

Advantages:

An advantage for working as a freelance worker would be that you will get paid for the amount of hours you do for the job you’re specialised at, making it much easier for you because you won’t need any ‘training’ or have to complete other work as well, you focus on only you’re task which you applied for. For example, if the employee was specialised in IT, and there was a freelance job open for IT, it would be perfect for the employee.

 

Disadvantage:

A disadvantage for working as a freelance worker would be that the pay you receive is generally low and is actually lowered compared to full time or part time because those jobs pay you if you’re on holiday, or off sick. Whereas, freelance doesn’t pay you for sick or holiday, you only get paid for the amount of hours you actually work.  












P1:
Full-Time, permanent - As the name suggest you work on a full-time basis, usually but not restricted to 39 hours a week. A permanent contract means that you are a regular member of staff entitled to company benefits including pensions, sick pay, maternity/paternity leave and holiday pay.
Part-time, permanent - This can be anything from half to a fraction of a full-time post but again you will have a set amount of working hours per week. You will also be entitled to those benefits outlined above but on a reduced basis due to working fewer hours.
Fixed - Term and freelance - These contracts are similar in that they are temporary and will only last for  certain period of time. Under a fixed term contract you may still be entitled to company benefits if outlined in your contract. However a freelance worker will be responsible for their own arrangements in terms of pensions, holiday and sick pay and other allowances.
Shift work - This means that your hours are set to certain times of the day, for example, 7 am to 3 pm or 11 pm to 7 am. Shifts can often include late or night work and are often used in places that need to be manned 24 hours a day, such as broadcasting centres.
Office hours - Traditionally these are Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. This pattern is very common for people working in administration and office-based jobs.
Irregular and anti-social hours pay - This is quite common in the creative and media industry as production work, especially on location, can often be sporadic and involve very early in the morning or late into the night. These payments are an incentive to people to work these unsociable hours above and beyond their normal contracted duties.
Salaried - A set annual wage that is broken down into monthly payments. A salary will be advertised as, for example, £20,00 per annum, meaning per year, this is then divided by 12 to give you a monthly payment of around £1666. However, don't forget however that you will have to pay tax and national insurance on this!
On completion - This is also quite common in the industry, especially for people commissioned to do work. A contract outlines what you are required to do and by when and you will be paid the agreed fee when the work is completed.