Look through these slides for more information. Types of contracts pay and professional practices

The media industry is a one of a kind industry, it is flexible and constantly changing. This means that the contracts its workers have are more flexible than traditional jobs. These are some of the most common contracts in the media industry:  Full-time, permanent  Part-time, permanent  Fixed-term and freelance  Shift work  Office hours  Irregular and anti-social hours pay  Salaried  On completion

You work on a full-time basis, usually 39 hours a week. A permanent contract means you are a regular member of staff entitled to company benefits including pensions, sick pay, maternity/paternity leave and holiday pay. The job roles most likely to be full-time, permanent are managerial, editorial, financial, creative and sometimes sales and marketing.

This means you work a fraction of a full-time contract, once again you will have a set amount of hours per wee. You will also be entitled to the same benefits as full-time, permanent but on a reduced basis due to fewer working hours. The job roles most likely to be part-time, permanent are financial and sometimes sales and marketing.

These contracts are similar in that they are both temporary and will only last for a certain period of time. Under a fixed-term contract you may still be entitled to company benefits if outlined in your contract. However, a freelance worker will be responsible for their own arrangements in terms of pension, holiday and sick pay and other allowances. The job roles most likely to be fixed-term and freelance are technical, creative and sales and marketing.

This means your hours are set to a certain time of the day, for example, 7am-3pm or 11pm- 7am. Shifts can include late or night work and are often used in places that need to be manned 24 hours a day, such as broadcasting centres (tv centres/radio centres)

Traditionally, these are Monday to Friday, 9am- 5pm. This contract is very common for people working in administration and office-based jobs. The job roles most likely to be office hours are financial and sales and marketing and some assistants job such as research assistant.

This is a little like overtime, when a person is paid extra money on top of their normal wages for working over or working unsociable hours. This is quite common in the media industries, as production work, especially on location, can be irregular and may involve working very early in the morning or late in to the night. These payments are an incentive to people to work these unsociable hours above and beyond their normal contracted duties.

A set annual wage that is broken down into monthly payments. A salary will be advertised as, for example, £20,000 per year, this is then divided by 12 to give you a monthly payment of around £1,666. The job roles most likely to be salaried are managerial and sometimes technical and creative.

This is also quite common in the media industries, especially for people commissioned to do work. A contract outlines what you are required to do and by when, and you will be paid the agreed fee when the work is completed according to the contract. The job roles most likely to be on completion are creative and sometimes technical.