Contract length
Initial planning and funding for emergencies may only be for a number of months even if finally many programmes may continue for some years.
Contracts of employment are either for a fixed term or indefinite. There are potential advantages and disadvantages of both.
| Advantages | Disadvantages | Comments |
| Fixed term | ||
Clear commitment from both employer and employee for a limited period only Possibility to extend contract if necessary |
Team members may pace themselves for a short term contract and risk burning out if they extend Team members may make firm plans to do other things after the initial contract and therefore be unable to extend especially if any offer to do so is delayed Costs (time, money and disruption) will be greater if new team members have to be recruited to fill posts. Organisation may hesitate to invest in short term staff in terms of development and learning |
Contracts need to be renewed in a timely fashion One or more extensions may be considered to make the contract indefinite under applicable labour laws case study
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| Indefinite | ||
Clear commitment from both employer and employee to a long term relationship which will in turn build up the organisation's pool of staff Degree of stability in team and resource for briefing new team members Organisation may be more willing to invest in permanent staff in terms of development and learning |
Termination of contracts may create ill-feeling and be expensive when a programme is scaled down.
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The cost of terminating an indefinite contract is not necessarily less than a fixed term contract – case study Consider indefinite contracts for posts which will remain even if the programme changes. |