Fixed Term Contracts - The new permanent?

krissovo

I am noticing a massive trend towards "fixed term" contracts up to 36 months are being renewed instead of making the employee permanent. In these contracts the employees are paid exactly the same as permanent or often less

Fixed term contracts are clearly more cost effective for the employer as there is less redundancy risk and little or no benefits like no pension,medical or sick pay.

Is this legal? Can for example your 12 month fixed term be renewed each year?

Is it illegal for Irish employers to accrue potential redundancy costs over a number of years? (excuse from a major employer I know)

Are employers using the recession as an excuse not to permanently employ staff?

Tieko

Yes you are exactly right, this is a cheaper, easier way for employers to hire staff and also makes it a lot easier for them to be disposed of without all the usual legal routes. Sucks I know, but not much you can do about it. The employers have the power these days

Mrs OBumble

krissovo wrote: »

I am noticing a massive trend towards "fixed term" contracts up to 36 months are being renewed instead of making the employee permanent. In these contracts the employees are paid exactly the same as permanent or often less

Fixed term contracts are clearly more cost effective for the employer as there is less redundancy risk and little or no benefits like no pension,medical or sick pay.

Is this legal? Can for example your 12 month fixed term be renewed each year?

Is it illegal for Irish employers to accrue potential redundancy costs over a number of years? (excuse from a major employer I know)

Are employers using the recession as an excuse not to permanently employ staff?

I don't have a link right now, but believe that once you've been on contstantly-renewed contracts for 4 years, you are considered to be on a contract of idefinite duration (ie permanent).

So it's quite legal to renew a FTC each year. And I know people who were agency workers placed at a multi-national, and also "permanent" employees ,of the agency, because they'd been there so long.

Apart from the spelling, there's no difference between a fixed-term cotnract and a permanent one if you're less than 2 years in the job: you can be made redundant with no compensation, provided the job is "gone".

And fixed term contracts don't necessarily have worse terms and conditions than permanent contracts. It's totally down to negotiation and company policies.

The area where FTCs are really worse is in training and development. FTC workers often done have performance reviews or receive training. So it can be the route to career oblivion, if you're not careful.

Spunk84

Sorry but your wrong:D The days of "O your a contract worker" has long gone with the EU laws which have been brought in

If your on a fixed term contract up until 6months then yes you can be let go for no reason, same way if your permanent,

If your a fixed term contract for at least i think 166weeks or 2 years and let go your in titled to redundancy no matter what anyone says.

Many employees think that because your on a fixed term contract you can be let go when it ends, Yes this is the case but you have to be notified in accordance of the years work, if not you can go threw the courts for unfair dismissal

You are entitled to the same rights and can not be treated less favorable than a permanent employee!!!!!!

Also if you are being let go you have to be given a reason and the employer has to show that a permanent worker vs Contract worker isnt involved

Sala

If your a fixed term contract for at least i think 166weeks or 2 years and let go your in titled to redundancy no matter what anyone says.

is that just if they get rid of your mid contract? What about when your fixed term ends?

jaffa20

Im on a fixed term contract for 3 years now. Has been renewed every 6 months or so, often backdated. Is it definitely true that you are considered permanent if you are there over 4 years?

Mrs OBumble

Sala wrote: »

is that just if they get rid of your mid contract? What about when your fixed term ends?

I think there are still some differences between the EU "laws" and Irish employment law. Unless you're a lawyer, you may be right, but it could be expensive to argue the case ...

Spunk84

Sala wrote: »

is that just if they get rid of your mid contract? What about when your fixed term ends?

no, if your over the 2 year mark and they try to get rid of you are entitled to redundancy, simple as!

EDIT" Its 104 weeks of service :}

jaffa20 wrote: »

Im on a fixed term contract for 3 years now. Has been renewed every 6 months or so, often backdated. Is it definitely true that you are considered permanent if you are there over 4 years?

If your over 3 years they can only renew your contract once with the contract been 12months or less. so if you there 3 years and they give you a 6month contract after that 6month contract you are legally permanent!

JustMary wrote: »

I think there are still some differences between the EU "laws" and Irish employment law. Unless you're a lawyer, you may be right, but it could be expensive to argue the case ...

LOL where are in the EU now:D same way companies have to follow the EU working time directive they have to follow EU work laws. If you want to argue Irish Law then all of the above i said is already been brought into Irish law in 2007. Most companies haven't coped onto this yet and still have their contracts with the 2004 directive.

Spunk84

Fixed-term or specified-purpose contracts

In Ireland employees on fixed-term contracts have broadly similar rights to those on open-ended contracts. The majority of employees work under open-ended contracts of employment. In other words, the contract continues until such time as the employer or employee ends it. Many other employees however, work under fixed-term contracts.

The term, fixed-term employee, covers employees whose contract ends on a specified date, or when a specific task is completed, or when a specific event occurs. Generally, a fixed-term contract ends on an agreed date. The period of such a contract may range from a matter of months up to a period of a year or more. However, a fixed-term contract can also involve a specified-purpose and so may not end on a specific date. Rather, it is agreed that the contract will finish when a particular stated task is completed, such as replacing an employee while she is on maternity leave.

The expression, fixed-term contract, is used for convenience here. It also includes specified-purpose contracts.

Rights of employees on fixed-term contracts
Generally speaking, people employed under such contracts have the same rights as other employees. For example, employees with fixed-term contracts have the normal entitlement to annual leave (holidays), maternity leave, and wage slips. The Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 requires that employees with a fixed-term contract get written notice of the expiry date.

The Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 applies to most employees on fixed-term contracts. However, it does not apply to agency workers, to apprentices and trainees, and to people in publicly-funded employment schemes such as Community Employment. The Act provides that fixed-term employees may not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent employees unless the employer can objectively justify the different treatment.

Any justification offered cannot be connected with the fact that the employee is on a fixed-term contract. The definition of comparable employees, the conditions attached and the enforcement mechanisms are similar to those for part-time employees.

Only those fixed-term employees whose normal hours of work are less than 20% of the normal hours of the comparable permanent employees can be excluded from entitlement to join a pension scheme.

As far as is practicable, an employer is required to help a fixed-term employee to access training to enhance skills, career development and job mobility.

Written statement

An employer must provide a fixed-term employee with a written statement as soon as possible, outlining what will trigger an end to the contract. That is, whether the contract will end on a specific date, following completion of a specific task or a specific event. In addition, where an employer intends to renew a fixed-term contract, a written statement must be supplied to the fixed-term employee not later than the date of renewal, setting out the objective grounds justifying the renewal and the failure to offer an open-ended contract.

Employers are obliged to inform fixed-term employees of vacancies for permanent positions. This may be done by means of a general announcement.

Dismissal

When an employee is dismissed at the end of the contract the unfair dismissals legislation applies as normal unless the employer has availed of the provision to exclude the operation of the legislation. To avail of that provision, the employer must put the contract in writing. The employer must include a clause stating that the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977–2007 will not apply where the only reason for ending the contract is the expiry of the fixed term, or the completion of the specified purpose. Both the employer and the employee must sign the contract.

Redundancy

An employee who has worked continuously for at least 104 weeks under a fixed-term or specified purpose contract may qualify for a redundancy payment when the contract ends.

Renewal of fixed-term contracts
Employees may not be employed on a series of fixed-term contracts indefinitely. There are 2 possible situations where this arises as follows:

If an employee whose employment started before 14 July 2003 has completed 3 years’ continuous service as a fixed-term employee, the employer may renew their fixed-term contract only once for a period of no more than 1 year.
If an employee whose employment started after 14 July 2003 has been employed on 2 or more continuous fixed-term contracts, the total duration of those contracts may not exceed 4 years.
After this, if the employer wishes to renew the employee’s contract, it must be an open-ended contract unless there are objective grounds justifying the renewal of the contract for a fixed term only.

The Unfair Dismissal Acts 1977–2007 contain a provision aimed at ensuring that successive temporary contracts are not used in order to avoid that legislation. Where a fixed-term or specified-purpose contract expires and the individual is re-employed within 3 months, the individual is deemed to have continuous service.

Therefore, even where an employer excludes the unfair dismissals legislation in the manner described above, a Rights Commissioner or the Employment Appeals Tribunal will consider whether the use of such contracts was wholly or partly to avoid the employee having the protection of the unfair dismissals legislation. If it is considered that this was the case and the contracts were not separated by more than 3 months and the job was at least similar, then the case can be dealt with as if there was continuous employment and the employer will be required to justify the dismissal in the normal manner.

Eyebrows18

Sorry for bringing up an old thread. I have been employed directly with my company over the last two years, with two 12 month contracts. How long would the I have to wait until they would legally be able to offer another another fixed term contract?