There are a variety of "advantages" and "disadvantages" to the employment statuses explained in 1.1, which I will outline below, with regards to flexibility, job security and working patterns. There is not necessarily a superior employment status, as each have certain perks that contrast to the others, and while I will describe the "disadvantages" they are not necessarily downsides, but are perhaps weaker in comparison to another status. If you are looking for bias, you won't find it here!
Employed (full-time/part-time)
In comparison to the other forms of employment status, being a full-time or part-time employee tends to have the strongest job security, particularly when a contract of employment has been signed. Stick within the rules, work hard and your employment is secure (assuming your company doesn't sink like a tonne of bricks, but lets have a bit of optimism, people!). A major advantage of being in full-time employment, is that you don't necessarily have to worry about sourcing projects yourself to keep funds running, as this is down to your employer and the company as a whole. You don't have to worry about where your "next paycheck" is coming from, and you are legally entitled to National Minimum Wage!
When it comes to flexibility, full-time employment probably isn't the contortionist of the employment status world. In terms of working patterns, you are expected to work around 40 hours a week, generally from 9 - 5, though this depends on your contract, and it is not uncommon for an employer to expect you to work a few more hours on certain days or during busy periods. That being said, you are entitled to annual leave, but many employers will require that you book these days in advance, and may even deny certain dates if it is a busy period or if there are too many members of staff an leave at one given time. Some employers also offer sick pay to full-time employees, while others do not, it all comes down to your employer and the contents your contract.
Contracted
While you are still bound to the security of a contract, this is usually only for a set period of time (for example 12 months) after which your employment ends. Therefore you would have to source more contracted employment, with no guarantee of securing a new contract (much like self-employment / freelancing). Also, it is important to note that a contracted employee generally has a set amount of time to finish a certain project, if said project isn't completed in that time, there are implications.While in your contract period, flexibility and working patterns are very much the same as being a full-time employee, in the sense that holidays and working hours will be decided by your employer and agreed in your contract. One notable flexibility perk of being a contracted employee, is that once your contract is over, you have as much free time as you want (not that those bills are going to pay themselves, though...) until you find a new contract.
Self-Employed / Freelance
A self-employed individual has both positive and negative factors affecting job security. While you are essentially your own boss and thereforeBut if it's flexibility that you're after, freelance redeems itself! As long as you manage your projects accordingly, you can mould your working schedule around your music gigs and rounds of golf, or work from home (wearing your pajamas!). Whichever way you look at it, your working patterns are down to you.
