14 TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS - DUDAS - 2025

The types of employment contract house a series of very detailed legal documents where an employee and an employer establish the conditions of the offered work. Labor contracts allow maintaining an order regarding the role that the worker will play in the company; in addition, they clarify the offers proposed by said company.

For most of the citizens of the world, having a job is very important, since this allows them to develop their skills in the work field of their choice. In this way, their efforts will be rewarded through bonuses that allow individuals to grow economically and socially.

The different types of contracts are adapted to the various employment relationships that may exist. Source: pixabay.com

Consequently, the time and effort that a worker spends within a work activity must be rewarded according to what said employee offers.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish a series of agreements between the person who will work and the entity that will benefit from this effort, be it another person, a company or a public or private institution.

In the first instance, it is necessary to define that a contract consists of an agreement that is generally carried out in writing, in which two or more parties agree to comply with and respect a series of conditions reciprocally. For their part, employment contracts are subject to labor regulations.

When an employer or an employee does not comply with the parameters established in an employment contract, the company or the person will have to face a series of legal consequences. This does not necessarily have to end negatively, since in certain cases they can reach an agreement and modify characteristics of the original document.

characteristics

Labor contracts are mainly characterized by being a written agreement in which the services to be performed by the employed person must be formalized. You also have to establish the remuneration that the employee will receive in exchange for those services.

All the obligations and all the rights that correspond to both parties are stated in the labor contracts; Similarly, the contracts express the need for reciprocal consent within the commercial relationship and the purpose or main objective of said interaction.

Likewise, contracts are characterized by expressing and delimiting the duration of these parameters; these must also reflect the absence or existence of a trial period of the employee.

The agreement also establishes that any change must be subject to prior notice if any of the parties wishes to terminate the contract before the agreed time.

Similarly, labor contracts reflect the consequences that will exist if any rule is breached by either party.

Types of employment contract

Depending on the requirements of each company and each employee, different types of employment contracts can be established. Some of these are as follows:

Indefinite contract

This employment contract establishes that there is no time limitation regarding the period in which the employee will perform the services. In other words, permanent contracts do not stipulate an end date.

This means that there is job stability on the part of the employee, and if the employer wishes to end the business relationship, he will have to compensate his worker. In some cases, this agreement can only be carried out verbally, although it is recommended that both parties require the formalization in a written document.

Indefinite hiring (as opposed to temporary) brings with it several advantages not only for the worker but also for those who employ him, since they can benefit in some way from certain tax help.

A precise example is found in people with disabilities or older adults, since they have clauses that support them due to their condition.

In some cases, after two years working for the same company, you can go directly to this type of contract.

Temporal agreement

This type of contract consists of a pact between the worker and the employer in which it is established that the services to be provided will be maintained for a limited time; therefore, it is a temporary and determined agreement.

Due to their limited time characteristics, all these contracts are usually made in writing, although in some circumstances they can be established orally.

In temporary contracts, trial periods are allowed and may be subject to extensions. This classification can be divided into the following subtypes:

Contracts for service or work

This type of temporary contract is used mainly in those activities or labor services whose development will have a beginning and an end that can be determined in time; In other words, it is a project that will have an expiration date.

The completion date is often uncertain, although it is assumed that it is not a long-term job.

Eventual contracts

The temporary contracts have a duration of six months and are widely used today, since they are very functional during the realization of a particular project.

It can be established that companies use temporary contracts when they need temporary help, either due to unforeseen circumstances that require a greater number of employees or for tasks that are isolated from the usual schedule.

Interim contracts

These consist of those agreements whose main objective is the replacement or coverage of a position that is temporarily available; consequently, the duration of these contracts will depend on the time it takes to cover the absence of the employee to be replaced.

These agreements usually occur when workers decide to take a break or when vacancies have become available.

Relief contracts

The relief contracts are used especially during work situations in which it is necessary to carry out a replacement of the position held by a person within the company.

However, unlike the interim contract, relief agreements are to replace an employee whose working hours have been reduced as a result of partial retirement. Therefore, this type of contract seeks to cover that part of the day that has been left empty by said retirement.

Training and learning

These contracts are intended to train the individual in a specific area, so that they can develop their job skills. That is, the company or company provides a service to the youngest so that they can go through the work experience.

Therefore, these agreements can only be made to employ people who are between 16 and 30 years of age. This method is known as "internship" in some Latin American countries.

The objective of this type of contract is to offer an alternative that promotes training and work activity. In this way, the insertion of employees is increased and, at the same time, the individual is strengthened within their work area, as this guarantees them greater work experience that will be reflected in the curriculum.

Internships can last up to three years; After this, the worker can formalize her stay in the company through an indefinite contract.

However, this is not mandatory, since the worker has the option of looking for another work alternative. Generally, training and apprenticeship contracts usually pay a meager interprofessional salary.

Internship contract

These contracts are similar to those for learning and training, since they are carried out so that the employee can improve their professional skills, ensuring that they can subsequently practice efficiently.

Internship contracts offer the individual the possibility of training in a specific area and allow them to better understand the elements that make up a company. These types of contracts can also be considered as internships and the payment is usually less than 75% of what a formal employee receives.

Home contract

Home-based contracts are those in which work activities are carried out from the employee's home or another location that the employee has chosen to carry out their duties. Due to the location of the worker, he does not have such a strict and direct surveillance by the employer or the company.

No special requirements are necessary to carry out an agreement of this type; however, it is necessary to stipulate it in writing following an official model. Home-based contracts also have a trial period, which should not exceed six months and has a minimum of two months.

The duration of this agreement can be both limited and indefinite, depending on the requirements of both parties. Likewise, the remuneration is also at the mercy of the parties.

Contracts for people with disabilities

At present, state agencies promote the protection of people with disabilities; therefore, they try to include them in the day to day so that in this way social inclusion is promoted and their opportunities are increased.

Consequently, specifically in Spain there are regulations through which companies are obliged to reserve 2% of vacancies for people with disabilities as long as said company or company has more than fifty employees.

The establishment of contracts for individuals with disabilities not only allows the commercial benefit of companies, but also provides opportunities for the less well-off. Agreements of this type, like the previous ones, can be indefinite or limited.

Research contracts

Agreements of this kind are similar to contingent contracts; However, they differ in that these contracts seek to employ a series of researchers, scientists or technicians to develop new research projects or programs that cannot be carried out by the usual staff.

Generally, employees who opt for these contracts usually have a doctorate and stay with the company for a period of approximately four years.

Contracts

Freelance contracts are widely used today and are executed mainly via the web, which facilitates transactions and allows the opening of digital commerce. They are similar to research or temporary contracts, since they are agreements that have a time limitation and that require a specific service from the employee.

Although freelance contracts tend to be much more informal, in the same way they need to establish what the obligations and rights of both parties are, since in this way any commercial problems are avoided in the future; Furthermore, through legal agreements, future collaborations can be protected and encouraged.

Zero hour contracts

Used especially in the UK, and also known as casual contracts, they specify that an employee works only when required by his employer.

The employer is not required to provide a fixed number of hours to work. And similarly, the employee does not have to accept any job offered to them.

Contract through temporary agency

The contract is temporary, and is made between the employer (client) and the temporary work company, which has a database of workers willing to accept temporary jobs.

What happens in case of breach of a contract?

The consequences of breaching a contract may vary depending on the laws of each country. For example, in the state of California it is established that the employer has complete power to fire a worker for any reason in any circumstance.

However, the employee can use a series of rules to protect his work integrity.

When an employer does not respect the parameters that were established in a written contract, the worker has the right to sue him. In fact, some written contracts have a series of monetary penalties that can be applied if any of the parties does not comply with the requirements that were agreed.

Both the employee and the employer have a period of two years to sue the party who is disrespecting the provisions of the contract. However, if it is a written contract - and not merely oral - you can have a period of up to four years to file the complaint; this may vary depending on each country or region.

To avoid further conflicts, most companies choose to hire a mediator to be responsible for intervening in misunderstandings, and thus avoid a lawsuit. This can harm the worker to some extent, as mediators charge high fees and generally prefer to support employers.

References

1. (SA) (2016) What happens when an employment contract is breached? Retrieved on April 8, 2019 from La Opinion: laopinion.com
2. (SA) (2018) Contracts for people with disabilities: guide on social bonuses. Retrieved on April 8, 2019 from Ayce Laborytax: aycelaborytax.com
3. (SA) (sf) Types of employment contracts. Retrieved on April 8, 2019 from Universia: Aplicaciones.universia.es
4. Lozano, N. (sf) Classes of employment contracts. Retrieved on April 8, 2019 from UNAM Archives: archivos.juridicas.unam.mx
5. Vagalume, R. (2017) What types of contracts exist? Retrieved on April 8, 2019 from Vivus: vivus.es