Having an employment contract is more common over here, but that's not the same as what we'd call being a contractor. As a full-time employee of the company yo

Having an employment contract is more common over here, but that's not the same as what we'd call being a contractor. As a full-time employee of the company you're working for (i.e. not simply contracted in), you still have an employment contract (it's a right/required) which'll lay out the employment expectations (salary, hours per week, whether you can be required to work additional hours etc). We do also have contractors - i.e. those who work for an external company who are brought in for a specific project (or to provide easy-to-get-rid-of headcount). In my experience, working as a contractor isn't all that much more common than in the US. But people having some form of contract is, because basically all employees have one.