In about 70% of countries, executives are considered as employees, which means they are working under an employment contract and protected by employment legislation. In most of these countries, they do not however fully enjoy the same protection as regular employees, as they fall outside the scope of some specific regulations (for example, executives are often excluded from working time regulations). In about 15% of countries, executives can either work under an employment contract or on a self-employed basis. If they are self-employed, their rights are not governed by employment law, but by commercial law and the terms agreed on in their contract with the company. Finally, in about 15% countries, executives work on a self-employed basis.