My Employment Rights

Fixed Term Employees

Introduction
Employees who are engaged on fixed term contracts, as opposed to open ended "permanent" contracts are afforded protection in order to avoid them being discriminated against when compared to those "permanent" counterparts.
Less Favourable Treatment
Essentially, fixed term employees cannot be less favourably treated than a comparable "permanent" employee, in relation to the terms and conditions they are offered or suffering detriement, unless such treatment can be objectively justified.
In particular, the law prevents fixed term employees from less favourable treatment in relation to:
• Any period of service qualification relating to a particular condition of employment;
• The opportunity to receive training; or
• The opportunity to secure permanent employment.
The relevant comparator is an employee who is engaged in comparable work, with similar skills and duties, but on a permanent contract.
Less favourable treatment means either that:
• The fixed term employee's terms and conditions should not be less favourable than those of the comparator; or
• The fixed term employee's overall package should not be less than the comparators.
In order to objectively justify any less favourable treatment, it is necessary to balance the needs of the business against the impact on the employee and showing that the treatment achieves a legitimate business objective, in necessary to achieve that objective and is an appropriate way to achevie that objective.
A fixed term employee is entitled to write to his employer seeking clarification of the reasons for any less favourable treatment and the employer must respond within 21 days.

Successive Fixed Term Contracts
Successive fixed term contracts can only be used for 4 years, unless continued use can be justified.
Otherwise, if a fixed term contract is renewed beyond 4 years, it will be deemed to be a permanent contract.

Enforcement
A fixed term employee is entitled not to suffer detriment or be dismissed as a result of enforcing their rights or as a result of having fixed term status.
Complaints must be brought in the employment tribunal within 3 months of the act complained of. There is no minimum qualifying period.
Dismissals will be automatically unfair. See the unfair dismissal section for more information.
In the case of detriment claims, the employment tribunal may:
• Make a declaration
• Award compensation for losses suffered.