Types of Employment Contracts in the European Union Labor Law

An individual contract of indefinite duration is the rule in the matter of establishing working relations. Other types of individual employment contracts – the fixed-term employment contract, the temporary work contract and the part-time contract – ensure, on the one hand, the fulfillment of certain needs of the employer and, on the other hand, the reconciliation between family and professional responsibilities of workers. Because of the insecurity of jobs that employers’ abuse of fixed-term, temporary or part-time employment contracts can make permanent, European Union rules explicitly provide for situations where such contracts can be concluded, general rules and minimum conditions which must be observed in the event of their conclusion. Regarding the employment and working conditions, workers with a fixed-term individual employment contract, temporary workers and part-time employees will not be treated less favorably than permanent and full-time workers on the basis of the specific period of the individual contract or the length of the working time, unless different treatment is justified for objective reasons.