The 8 types of employment contract (and their characteristics)

One of the main concerns of the citizens of the different countries of the world is work and / or the absence of it. Having an occupation is necessary, since it allows us to exercise a social function which at the same time allows us to obtain the necessary resources to provide us with the necessary elements for our subsistence and well-being.

However, the effort and time devoted to work activity must be rewarded in some way, requiring an agreement between the person who will work and the person, company or institution that will benefit from said effort.

This agreement is the employment contract. But the agreements that are reached will have different characteristics, depending on the objective or the timing of the hiring. It is because of that there are different types of employment contract, which we will see throughout this article.

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The employment contract: characteristics

The employment contract is the agreement reached by the employee and the employer

and through which the services and activities to be carried out for the second by the employee are established and formalized, as well as the remuneration that he will receive as payment for his services.

Likewise, the rights and obligations are established of each of the parties, as well as the mutual consent of the commercial relationship and the objective of said relationship.

Other aspects to take into account and that must be clearly reflected in the contract are its duration, the existence or absence of a trial period, the commitment and the need for advance notice in case of wanting to terminate the agreement before the agreed period, the consequences of its breach by either party and any other agreement reached in the process of hiring.

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Contract types

By virtue of the features we have seen, it is possible to establish different types of contract. In Spain, until a few years ago we had a total of 42 types of employment contract.

However, in December 2013 the number of contract types was reduced to a total of four basic types, which we will detail below.

1. Indefinite contract

It is a type of contract that is established without a time limitation regarding the period of performance of the service. In other words, this type of contract does not stipulate an end date. It assumes the existence of stability on the part of the employee, and in the event that the employer decides to terminate the employment relationship, he must compensate the aforementioned.

This type of contract can be made only verbally in some cases, although it can always be required (and in fact recommended) to be formalized in writing.

In turn, permanent hiring entails a series of advantages not only for the employee but also for the employer, by being able to benefit from various types of aid or tax deductions depending on the type of worker hired. For example, people with disabilities, entrepreneurs, young people, groups at risk of exclusion social, over 52 years or ex-convicts will see different clauses specific to their condition.

It must be taken into account that except in the cases of the subtypes of interim, training or interim contract replacement, this type of contract will be passed if two years of commercial activity are exceeded with the same business.

2. Temporal agreement

The temporary contract supposes a pact between employer and employee in which the provision of services is stipulated for a specified period of time.

In general, all of them must be done in writing, although some of them can under specific circumstances be done orally. The trial periods will vary depending on the stipulated hiring time. For the most part, extensions are allowed. Within this type of contracts we can find several subtypes, among which the following stand out:

3. By work or service

This type of contract is used in those employment relationships that are known to have a certain beginning and end, although the end date is uncertain and it is limited to the completion of a certain service.

4. Eventual

This type of contract, which has a maximum duration of six months, It is one of the most common today. In principle, this contract is used in those moments when a company or employer needs help temporary due to unforeseen circumstances requiring more workers than habitual.

5. Interim

The interim contract is one whose main objective is to cover or replace a temporarily vacant position. The duration of the contract covers the time of absence of the worker or vacancy to be replaced. It is usually done before the request and granting of sick leave to employees, vacations of these or while a selection process is being carried out to fill the vacancy.

6. Relay

This type of contract is used in situations in which it is necessary to replace a person within a company for a certain period, which has a reduction in working hours due to partial retirement. In this way, the contract is made to cover the part of the working day corresponding to that which the replaced worker ceases to exercise.

7. Training and learning

This type of contract should only be used with individuals between 16 and 30 years of age (up to 25 if the unemployment rate falls below 15%).

Its main function is to allow an alternation between work activity and training, with which it is intended to increase labor insertion while providing the proper training that allows them to exercise adequately. At most they can last up to three years, after which it is possible (although not mandatory) to enter the staff indefinitely. The remuneration must not be less than the minimum interprofessional salary, being agreed by agreement.

8. Internship contract

In a similar way to the training and apprenticeship contract, the internship contract is carried out under the pretense of improve the qualification and professional competence of the employee in order to exercise efficiently. It is linked to specific training, offering experience in the sector while allowing a better understanding of the training content. The remuneration is set by agreement, without it being possible for it to be less than 75% of what a worker in the same position would receive.