© boardworks ltd 20071 of 251 of 27© boardworks ltd 2007 working arrangements teacher’s notes...

© Boardworks Ltd 20071 of 251 of 27 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Working Arrangements

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Working Arrangements Unit 2: People in Business

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Learning objectives


What is a contract of employment?

What different working arrangements do businesses use?

Why is flexibility important in the workplace?

What are the effects of changing working arrangements on employees and employers?

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Ways of working

People organize the ways they work in different ways.They might work in an office, in a number of different locations, through the night or from home.

An employee’s working arrangements are the particular aspects of their employment, including where they

work, their hours of work, and their pay.


Contract of employment

An employee’s working arrangements will be set out in a document called a contract of employment. This is a formal agreement between an employer and employee which covers the terms and conditions of employment, including:

hours of work, including shift work, flexitime, overtime, and breaks from workplaces of work, including offices, retail outlets, teleworking, mobile and home-based working

any additional information such as grievanceprocedures, pension schemes and notice periods.

whether the job is temporary or permanent, full or part-time

pay and benefits, including holiday and sick pay


Contract of employment

A contract of employment must be issued within eight weeks of an employee starting work.

The contract is signed by both the employee and employer, and is legally binding. This means that if the employer or employee fails to meet the terms of the contract, they are breaking the law.


Complete the contract!


Length of time spent at work


Hours of work

An employee’s hours of work can vary, whether they work full or part-time, or on a temporary or permanent basis.

Shift work is work carried out at set times over a twenty-four hour period. This pattern of working is used in the manufacturing industry, and also in hospitals, where staff need to be available around the clock.

Overtime refers to the hours worked on top of an employee’s weekly contracted hours. Overtime may or may not be paid. Some employees, such as retail staff, are paid at a higher rate for overtime they do. Other job roles, particularly managerial positions, will involve unpaid overtime.


Hours of work

Whatever their hours are, all flexitime workers will usually be required to work during core time. This is a business’s main operating hours, normally between 10am and 4pm.

What is a benefit of a flexitime working arrangementfor an employee and an employer?

Flexitime is an arrangement of flexible working hours. Rather than working the traditional 9am to 5pm day, employees can agree certain hours with their employer, such as 8.30 am to 4.30pm.


Breaks from work

The amount of paid leave an employee is given off in these circumstances will vary according to the employer. However, all employers must offer the minimum statutory allowances.

All employees are legally entitled to take breaks from work for a number of reasons, including:

sick leave

maternity/paternity leave

study or training leave (for 16/17 year olds)

time off for family emergencies

to carry out public duties e.g. jury service

to look for work if they have been made redundant.


Working hours and breaks from work


Places of work

Most employees work in a fixed place of work, such as an office, a shop, or a factory. The location of a person’s work will be stated in their contract of employment.

Think of one benefit of teleworking for an employee, and one benefit for an employer.

Teleworking involves using ICT to work away from the main workplace. The teleworker is connected to the company’s network and communicates with their office via e-mail, telephone and Internet video links. Teleworking is common in jobs such as field sales and data entry.


Places of work

Home-based workers work from home. Jobs which use this arrangement include anything from envelope-stuffing to cold-calling. Many home-based workers are self-employed.

Some jobs require the employee to work in many different locations. Mobile workers, such as plumbers, electricians and sales reps need to visit their customers’ homes to do their jobs.

gas engineer

web designer

aromatherapist

teacher

journalist

hairdresser

Which arrangement would best suit these jobs?


Remuneration

An employee’s rate and frequency of remuneration will be clearly stated in their contract of employment.

Most employees receive payment based on a time period. This might be a salary, i.e. payment calculated annually and paid monthly, or a wage, i.e. payment calculated hourly and paid weekly.

Some employees working in the sales industry receive payment on commission instead of, or in addition to, a wage or salary. Under a commission arrangement, employees are paid based on a value of the sales they make.


Remuneration

A piece rate system is payment basedon an employee’s output and is commonly used in the manufacturing industry. A machinist, for example, may be paid a fixed fee per item of clothing he or she produces to a satisfactory standard.

Think of a possible benefit and drawback of the following arrangements:

time rate payment, i.e. a wage or salary commission or piece rate payment a combined system, e.g. a wage with

commission on top.


Benefits

Employers often offer their employees various benefits on top of the basic wage or salary.

What might employers gain from offering bonuses and fringe benefits to their staff?

Additional, non-pay rewards are known as fringe benefits. These may include the use of a company car, medical insurance, subsidized travel or the use of sports facilities. Fringe benefits will usually be stated in the employee’s contract of employment.

Bonuses are extra payments given to staff, often as an end-of-year reward for hard work, or as encouragement to meet certain targets.


Benefits

All employees, whether they work full or part-time, are entitled to paid holiday as part of their working arrangements.

For part-time employees, holiday allowance is worked out on a pro rata basis. This means that they receive the full entitlement of leave in proportion to their hours worked.By law, part-time employees are entitled to exactly the same pay rates, benefits and holidays as full-time employees.

People in full-time employment are allowed a minimum of four weeks’ leave per year. This may or may not include statutory public holidays, at the discretion of the employer. Manyemployers offer more than four weeks.


Anagrams


The need for flexibility

Employers are increasingly requiring staff to be flexible.Variable working arrangements can be beneficial for a business, and also help to meet the different needs of employees.

For what reasons might employers wish to change working arrangements?


The need for flexibility


Effects of changing working arrangements

An employer can increase flexibility in their workforce byrecruiting new staff on different contracts, or changing theworking conditions of existing staff.

Employers can expect their staff to be flexible to some degree.For example, employees may be required to move if their work premises move location. However, not all employees will be pleased about changes to their working arrangements, andthis can be a major cause of work disputes.

If an employer wishes to change the terms of an employee’s contract of employment, for example their job description or working hours, they must first get the employee’s consent.


Case study

The introduction of new licensing laws in November 2005 means that many bars and nightclubs are now permitted to open later and serve alcohol around-the-clock.

Consider how a change in opening hours has affected:

the number and type of staff employed, e.g. permanent, temporary, full or part-time

the type of work carried out

hours worked by employees

pay and benefits of employees.


Question time!

1.

2.

3.

4.

What is a contract of employment? List three thingsthat would be found on a contract of employment.

What is the difference between temporary and casual work?

What is piece rate payment? What is the benefit ofpiece rate over time rate payment for an employer?

What is meant by ‘flexible’ working? Give two reasons an employer might have for changing working arrangements.


Who wants to be an A* student?


Glossary

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Documents

work slide

work places of work

employees hours of work

shift work

contract of employment

different working arrangements

pattern of working

working arrangements