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There are many ways in the contempory workforce for students and employers to come to a working arrangement. Be prepared for the variety of instruments used in the workplace.

There are various sorts of contracts and agreements students may be employed under. These include:

Collective Agreements - covering everyone working in a particular industry or business:

• Awards – Consent and Arbitrated
• Enterprise Agreements

Individual Agreements - applying to one individual employee and their employer:

• Common law contracts
• Handshake Agreements
• Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs)

There are often not huge differences between the types of agreements, and they may be a result of historical circumstances existing at the time the agreement was made, such as the history of the industry, what the industrial relations laws were like at the time, the presence or lack of unions in the workplace or industry.

Collective Agreements

These apply to all workers in a particular business, industry or occupation – the same conditions for each worker. They include Awards and Enterprise Agreements. Both workers and employers are legally bound by the conditions in the agreement.

Awards: These set out the rights and obligations of employees and employers engaged in a particular type of work (eg, teaching, nursing, retail, hospitality). There are many different types covering different industries and occupations. They cover conditions of employment including:

• Hours of work
• Pay rates, penalty rates, overtime and other loadings, such as annual leave loading
• Allowances for tools or uniforms
• Leave entitlements
• Employment protection provisions, like redundancy payments
• Part-time or casual work.

An award covers all workers in the industry to which it relates. Awards are not negotiated directly between employees and employers, but rather between employers and unions operating on behalf of the workers in the industry or individual business. It is illegal to be employed on conditions other than those stated in the Award if there is an Award. A copy of the award must be displayed in the workplace in a place accessible to all employees. It may be on a computer network if all employees have access to the computer and are trained in its use, otherwise, a paper copy must be made available as well.

Consent Award: Is an award where the employer and the union representing the workers agree to the conditions within the Award and negotiation has already taken place, one or both parties may apply to the Industrial Relations Commission for the Award to be made. The only parties who can apply are an employer, an industrial organisation of employers or employees (union) or a state peak body.

Arbitrated Award: Is an award made by the Industrial Relations Commission and imposed on the parties when the employer and the union representing the workers are in disagreement. Both sides are then legally bound by the decision of the Commission and must abide by the terms and conditions in the Award.

Enterprise Agreement: Like an Award, these agreements set out the rights and obligations of employers and employees engaged in particular types of work in a business. They may be negotiated between an employer and employees directly, or with a union on behalf of the employees. In NSW, such an agreement is registered with, and approved by, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission which ensures that it complies with all the relevant laws, such as minimum entitlements to parental, annual and long service leave. The agreement must be in writing and signed by or on behalf of the parties to the agreement. A copy of the agreement must be displayed in the workplace in a place accessible to all employees, and all new employees must be notified of its existence and provided with a summary.

Individual Agreements

These forms of agreement are made between an employer and a single employee and are not generally made known publicly. One individual may work alongside another doing exactly the same job, and have different agreements covering things like conditions and pay rates.

Common Law Contract: A Common Law Contract is a legal contract which sets out the conditions and terms under which an individual employee works. The employer presents the contract to the employee who must sign it to accept the job. It does not necessarily involve any negotiation between employer and employee (although depending on the bargaining power of the individual it could do). Common Law Contracts are usually used in high paid jobs where there is little or no union representation.

Handshake Agreement: A handshake agreement is an agreement which is not written down, but agreed on a "handshake". Anyone offered work under this arrangement should be very wary.

Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA): An AWA is an individual contract negotiated between an individual employer and an employee. They were introduced under the previous federal government's laws called "Work Choices". AWAs could include conditions which are less favourable than those covering other people already working in the same job on an Award or Enterprise Agreement. Changes from 28 March 2008 prevent any new AWAs being made, and put in place transition arrangements for any prior to 1 Dec, 2007.