This depends how long you have been employed continuously by your employer on a fixed term contract and what you were employed to do.
If you were:
- bought in to cover someone else (i.e. on maternity or sick leave),
- or were employed to do a project that is going to end,
it may be that there is no other work available that you can do, and your contract will end and you will have to leave.
Your employer does not have to give you notice if your contract is ending on its expected date, although they may do this. If your contract is ending and you have 1 year’s service you are entitled to ask for a written statement from your employer explaining why your contract is ending.
Your employer should look to see if there is other work for you and you can also apply for any job vacancies that come up that suit you.
If your employer is making redundancies among similar staff (or in your department, area etc) and your contract is ending because of this you may be entitled to a redundancy payment if you have 2 years service – for more information please click here.
If you have 4 years continuous service with your employer (since 10th July 2002) then you may be able to become a permanent employee.
The legislation that covers this says that if:
- you have been continuously employed (i.e. no significant breaks of employment) by the same Employer on a fixed-term contract for four years or more, that started after 10th Juy 2002
- you can ask your Employer for a statement confirming that you are now a permanent employee and are no longer employed on a Fixed Term Contract.
Your Employer can only keep you on a Fixed Term contract after 4 years if:
- they can objectively justify this at the point your Fixed Term contract was last renewed, or
- if they have changed the time limit (of 4 years) by a ‘workforce’ or ‘collective’ agreement, that you should know about.
If your Employer fails to give you this statement (when you have requested it) or gives you a statement of reasons why you must remain on a Fixed Term contract that you don’t agree with, you can make a claim to an Employment Tribunal.
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If you work in the UK Media Industries and have a question about this or any other topic, please e-mail us at workline@freelanceadvisor.co.uk
If you are an Employer and need ongoing professional help with any staff/freelance issues then talk to us at The HR Kiosk (click here) - a Human Resources Consultancy for small businesses – you can retain us for as much time as you need.
Please note that the advice given on this website and by our Advisors is guidance only and cannot be taken as an authoritative interpretation of the law. It can also not be seen as specific advice for individual cases. Please also note that there are differences in legislation in Northern Ireland.
