When the contract ends, you may be able to claim unjustified termination. Some employment contracts may look like fixed-term contracts, but in fact they do not meet the requirements. These include: Fixed-term contracts usually end automatically when they reach the agreed end date. The employer is not required to give notice of dismissal. If you have a fixed-term contract, your employer does not need to notify the contract that is coming to an end date. However, failure to renew a fixed-term contract is considered termination. You have the right: you will not be classified as a fixed-term worker if you are: if you have been employed for more than four years in successive fixed-term contracts, your employment will be permanent and continuous extensions will have no effect (unless they can be objectively justified). The non-renewal of a fixed-term employment contract is treated as a dismissal, so that if the contract is not renewed, fixed-term workers also have: employees with fixed-term contracts have rights largely similar to those of workers of indefinite duration. The majority of employees work on permanent contracts. In other words, the contract continues until the employer or employee terminates it. However, many other workers work on fixed-term contracts. If an employer intends to extend a fixed-term contract, a written statement must be provided to the fixed-term worker at the time of the extension.

The written statement should set out the objective reasons justifying the renewal and the absence of a contract of indefinite duration. For example, it may be necessary to change the terms of a contract when a newly adopted regulation would make those terms or the contract itself illegal. In some cases, a judge may order the amendment of a contract if it helps resolve a dispute about the contract or some of its terms. If your employer fires employees in the type of work you did, it could mean that you were laid off due to a dismissal. If you work continuously as a fixed-term employee for two years or more, you have the same dismissal rights as permanent employees. Employers must inform term employees of vacancies for permanent workers. This can be done through a general announcement. If your contract allows you or your employer to terminate the contract before the expiry of the period, the usual minimum legal notice periods apply (1 week for each year of work up to a maximum of 12 weeks). Your minimum right of termination depends on your uninterrupted service with the company.

You can find out below what counts as a permanent service for fixed-term contracts. If your contract provides for a longer notice period than your legal minimum right, this applies. Maternity leave: An employee with a fixed-term employment contract is entitled to full maternity leave. However, if their fixed-term contract ends before the last day of maternity leave, the last day of their contract shall be considered to be the last day of maternity leave. This means that if the fixed-term contract ends during maternity leave, the employee`s employment contract ends on that day. This does not affect entitlement to the full 26 weeks of maternity benefits. In general, yes, you can. Fixed-term employees have the same rights as permanent employees for the purposes of discrimination complaints. If you are a fixed-term employee and have been discriminated against, harassed or harassed on the basis of a characteristic protected by the Equality Act, you can make a claim under the Equality Act 2010 and the usual rules of discrimination apply (for more information, see our pages on discrimination). If your contract states that you should have been employed for one month or less, but you were actually employed for three months or more, you are still entitled to the minimum notice period of one week. For example, if you are a fixed-term employee with a three-month contract and a comparable permanent employee has a company car, your employer may not offer you one if the costs are too high. Your business need to travel can also be met in other ways.

You are also protected against dismissal because you are a fixed-term worker, unless your employer can “objectively justify” the choice. This means that they need to give you a good reason based on the needs of the business. The employer must provide the fixed-term worker with a written statement as soon as possible as to what terminates the contract […].