Unit 01 – Awareness of Employment within the Creative Media Sector

Different types of of jobs

Full-time employment is employment in which the employee works the full number of hours defined as such by his/her employer.

part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week and a full-time job. they are considered to be part time if they commonly work fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week.

A fixed contract is when an employee has a contract due to end on a certain date, or when a certain task is completed. These contracts can range from a month up to a year or more.

These different types of jobs affect me because in each type of job there are certain rights and also affects how long you work in a week or how long you have your job for. 

You get certain benefits from certain job types e,g. part time jobs you have a lot more free time to devote to other responsibilites such as looking after your children or time train for more qualifications. Part-time employees also hold the same rights as full-time. As a full-time worker you work longer hours, with less free time for yourself or to take on other roles such as looking after your children.

Flexibility in a contract

Your employment contract may include 'flexibility clauses'. These give your employer the right to change certain conditions (for example, shift patterns) or there may be a 'mobility clause', allowing changes to your job location.

A flexibility clause that is vaguely worded - for example, 'the employer reserves the right to change terms from time to time' - cannot be used to bring in completely unreasonable changes. This is because there's an 'implied term of mutual trust and confidence' in all contracts that requires the employer not to act completely unreasonably. There is more information about implied terms in the 'Employment contract terms article'.

National Insurance

You pay National Insurance contributions if you're an employee or self-employed and you're aged 16 and over, as long as your earnings are more than a certain level. If you're employed you stop paying National Insurance contributions as soon as you reach State Pension age. If you are self-employed, you stop paying Class 2 contributions as soon as you reach State Pension age and Class 4 contributions from the start of the tax year after the one in which you reach State Pension age.