Zóny pre každého študenta

Employment topic

Employment topic 

Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. The employer may be a person or an institution. The employees receive wages for work. That’s the most common motivation, money.

Choosing career is difficult and it is one of the most important decision in one’s life. People are changing their dreams and outlooks for which career to choose, kids are dreamers and they want to do something thrilling, significant. But as the kids are growing up, they are thinking of more realistic jobs and at the end of high school and/or at the university people should have had determined what they want from life. The career choice varies of different personalities, experiences, hobbies, opportunities etc.

Most children are influenced by their surroundings, parents, teachers, relatives and friends. But sometimes they divert from the usual professions and choose something special, something they love to do. And that’s when conflicts can begin. Rarely family members could be kicked from family because of that.

Kinds of jobs:

People need physical skills for this kind of jobs. Employees are specialized, education is usually on low level. There are jobs like builder, farmer, miner, fireman, warehouse worker... Some need special skills, for example cook, watch-maker, archaeologist, hairdresser, car mechanics…

The needs for education are much higher, but there is almost no need for physical skills to excel at these kinds of jobs. You can be for example manager, teacher, programmer, artist, musician, lawyer, judge etc.

Productivity is defined as the efficient and effective use of resources with minimum waste and effort to achieve outcome. We live in a world that has limited resources. The health care industry faces this limitation more than any other industry. With these challenges facing health care administrators, the concept of productivity, job satisfaction and motivation become very important. Employee satisfaction and retention have always been an important issue for physicians, medical centres and businesses in general. Conventional human resources theories, developed some 50 years ago by Maslow and Herzberg, suggest that satisfied employees tend to be more productive, creative and committed to their employers. People are essential to productivity. The success of productivity improvement strategy is dependent on employee commitment, job satisfaction, skills, and motivation.

Maslow's theory consists of a 5-level pyramid: physiologic or basic survival; physical and mental safety; sense of belonging; accomplishment, creativity, and growth; and self-actualization. Herzberg's theory suggests there are 2 groups of factors: hygiene (which satisfy) and motivation. The terms "job satisfaction" and "motivation" have become used interchangeably. There is a difference. Job satisfaction is an individual's emotional response to his or her current job condition, while motivation is the driving force to pursue and satisfy one's needs. Maslow and Herzberg's theories can be easily applied to the workplace. Managers can help employees achieve overall job satisfaction, which, with the employee's internal motivation drive, increase performance on the job.

Gender-wise, there are typical jobs for each gender, but exceptions exist everywhere. For example hairdresser, you’d say, that it is typical women’s jobs, but there are many men hairdressers too. And so on.

Working time and free time:

With full-time jobs you usually work 8 hours a day, but you can also work part-time for 3 hours a day or during weekends or 2 days a week. Students usually work part-time, when they work. Also retired people, mother with small children or handicapped people prefer more part-time jobs. Also there are fixed hours jobs, when you start and finish your work at the same time every day, flexible time jobs it is up to you, when you start and finish the work and people work a shifts. You can also work at weekends and/or holidays with better hour rate than usual.

Kinds of salary:

Hourly pay is common for entry-level up to supervisory positions. Individuals on hourly pay are compensated for the hours they actually work at a predetermined rate per hour. Most hourly employees also receive overtime pay for hours worked more than 40 each week, or more than eight per day. Overtime pay may be one and a half times the base pay, also called time and a half, or twice the pay, called double time.

Annual pay employees, also referred to as salary employees, receive a set amount every pay period based on a full-year rate. Most management staff is paid based on an annual rate, such as a $30,000-per-year salary. Annual pay employees are not eligible for overtime pay but also are not required to punch a time clock and report the total hours worked like hourly employees.

Some sales positions are paid on a commission basis. Commission pay offers a certain percentage of every sale generated. The benefit to an employer is a cost savings of not paying an employee for hours worked unless the employee books a sale to generate revenue for the company. The biggest drawback to commission-based pay is employee retention. If an employee is unsuccessful at securing enough sales to maintain a steady income, you may face attrition as struggling employees seek more stable income.

When you commit to a performance-based pay structure, you make payments to your employees based on certain completion points, project metrics or performance ratings. These pay structures enforce employee performance, giving your employees more control over their own income by meeting goals and deadlines.

Opportunities in Slovakia and abroad

Many people are leaving Slovakia every year because of low salaries and lack of good job opportunities. But the situation is slowly improving, many people are coming back to Slovakia because they figured out, that wherever else the situation isn’t as bright as it seems. Yes, you will get paid more, but also you pay more for basic services and things you need every day… Our social security system is good, for now. Relatively free or cheap healthcare, free or cheap education, not-as-bad infrastructure, cooperation with other countries, beautiful nature, etc. Although there are regions in Slovakia with high unemployment rate. But those people are living quite well, “thanks to our social security system. It has got negative effects on living standard of person and their family. But even when one is unemployed, it doesn’t mean, that he has got no money in Slovakia. Our social security system is giving them doles from state. When the income is lower than minimum wage, the state will pay you family credit or income benefit. Also people get family allowances for having children under age of 18 or until they finish their study.

Retirement system in Slovakia is not sustainable, seniors live off on the money, which working people are giving away as contribution to the social insurance. It is not sustainable because nowadays less and less babies are born and in the future there won’t be enough workforce to provide money for seniors. See the picture. There are no real solutions to this future problem now.

Maternity leave is a way to support women or pairs in having kids or more kids. It is really generous. Mothers won’t have to worry about their jobs, because they are protected by law, that they can’t fire them. And mothers are getting also monthly financial support at 65% of previous job’s salary rate for 34 weeks. *Maternity leave in US is non-existent.* In UK there is also paid maternity leave in length of 39 weeks with 90% of average weekly earnings.

Going to work

In most English-speaking countries young people often have a part-time job but they do not start work properly until they are sixteen. If they take some form of “further education”, they start work later than that. The usual age for retirement is now 65. In our country, young people usually start working at the age of 18 and the usual age of retirement is 62.

The Labour Market

Some people who already have a job also do moonlighting /have a second job/. In most families, the man is still the breadwinner, but the number of women in employment has more than doubled since the 1960´s. Discrimination is, of course, illegal but still most top jobs go to men. Women also have to do the second shift /to spend the evening cooking and cleaning/ even though most men believe in the principle of sharing the housework. People find jobs through advertisements in newspapers or at “Job centres”. Some unemployed people register with an unemployment agency. Many people choose to be self-employed /to have their own business/ or to work freelance for several employers.

When do we have to look for a job?

Many young people have to look for a job when they have finished their school, because they need money to live on it. But it is very hard to find a job. The companies are usually looking for people with 2 to 5 years of practice. The finding of the job depends on age, education, possibilities and years of practising. People are looking for a job in these situations: when they have finished the school, when they want to change the work, when their work was boring, when they had earned a small salary or they had to travel a lot a got no chance to live normally with their family. They can find the job in the newspapers; they can go to the local job centre and ask for a free job. There is a career advisor and he can give some advice about the job.

Job interview and the contrac

After collecting and evaluating information about a would-be job one has to write an application. An inevitable part of the application form is curriculum vitae. The aim of the application is to get an interview. The interview is very, if not the most, important stage in the procedure of getting a job. An applicant can either gain or lose a lot. If the applicant is really serious in their effort to get a job they must be very careful not only about what they wear and what first impression they make but also what and how they communicate to the interviewer. There are a lot of guide books where applicants can find some useful information on how to ´survive´ an interview. Those applicants who are lucky, or rather good enough and get the job become employees of a company. The employee and employer sign a work contract which clearly states the job description, duties and responsibilities, working time, salary and conditions of promotions. The job may include several fringe benefits /extra advantages such as company car, luncheon vouchers/. These are also called perks /perquisites/. First two weeks in the company are very hard. They have to learn everything again, what you have to do, have to get on well with your collaborator, with your boss, the rhythm of the work.

Curriculum Vitae

A letter of application

Pay conditions

In offices people have a five-day week and are often said to have a nine-to-five job. Many also work flexitime, a system that lets them decide their own hours. In our country people work 38, 5 hours per week, often more, and are usually not paid for the 30 minute lunch break. Benefits certainly add to the value of a job and most employees are interested in them before sitting for an interview. They include pension plans, childcare allowances, discounts on goods produced by the company, and profit-sharing schemes /paying employees more money when the business does well/. Slovak employees get a four-week vacation. Employees who have worked for a company for a long tie may get more vacation.

Unemployment

The labour market in Slovakia is very flexible, that means it is very easy to hire and fire people. Many companies react quickly to economic problems by downsizing and laying off employees. Unemployment is not a new problem in our society. A lot of people are out of work /unemployed, on the dole, jobless/, because the company has given them a notice. They get only living wage. It is given by government and everybody must get at least, no employer can pay than living wage. But it is very hard to live on.

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