Types of Employment (Edexcel IGCSE Business)

Revision Note

Lisa Eades

Written by: Lisa Eades

Reviewed by: Steve Vorster

Comparing Types of Employment

  • Businesses can employ workers on a variety of employment contacts

    • Part-time employment is often considered to be between 1 and 30 hours a week

    • Full-time employees will usually work 35+ hours a week

  • Flexible working is the development of a culture where workers are able to work in a range of employment patterns (part-time, temporary or zero hours contracts, job-sharing, work from home, etc)

Comparing the Different Types of Employment

Type of Employment

Explanation

Example


Full-time

  • Full-time employment is when an employee works the total number of hours considered by the company as full-time in a week

  • Full time employees work more hours in a company than part-time employees

  • E.g. Under UK labour law, a full-time employee works 35 hours a week or more

Part-time

  • Someone who works part-time may only work two or three days a week

  • Part-time employment may be more flexible and can be adjusted subject to employee availability and employer requirements

  • E.g. Part-time employees at the US company Costco are required to work a minimum of 24 hours to keep their employee benefits


Job sharing

  • Job sharing is the process of breaking up a role into two part-time contracts (in rare cases, the job share may occur between more than two workers)

  • E.g. Split-shift job shares have two members of staff working on the same day but at different times. Worker A may work 8 a.m.–1 p.m., and worker B works 1 p.m.–6 p.m

 

Temporary/casual employment

  • Someone who works temporarily shows up for work whenever the business needs them

  • This may be seasonal (summer or winter) or for a determined length of time

  • E.g. A ski instructor working for two months during a ski season at a resort in the French Alps

Examiner Tips and Tricks

In the exam, you may be asked to 'define' a type of employment. Remember that these questions are assessing your knowledge. Make sure that your definitions are precise and accurate

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Lisa Eades

Author: Lisa Eades

Expertise: Business Content Creator

Lisa has taught A Level, GCSE, BTEC and IBDP Business for over 20 years and is a senior Examiner for Edexcel. Lisa has been a successful Head of Department in Kent and has offered private Business tuition to students across the UK. Lisa loves to create imaginative and accessible resources which engage learners and build their passion for the subject.

Steve Vorster

Author: Steve Vorster

Expertise: Economics & Business Subject Lead

Steve has taught A Level, GCSE, IGCSE Business and Economics - as well as IBDP Economics and Business Management. He is an IBDP Examiner and IGCSE textbook author. His students regularly achieve 90-100% in their final exams. Steve has been the Assistant Head of Sixth Form for a school in Devon, and Head of Economics at the world's largest International school in Singapore. He loves to create resources which speed up student learning and are easily accessible by all.