Background:

The Complainant was hired as a HR Business Partner for the Respondent on a fixed-term contract staring on 13 September 2021, with an initial end date of 12 September 2022. The Respondent claimed the fixed-term nature of the role was due to maternity leave cover. On 5 September 2022 the Respondent informed the Complainant by email that funding had been secured by the Respondent to extend the Complainant’s contract until 31 December 2022.

The Complainant argued that because the Respondent did not issue the Complainant with an updated contract of employment for this extension which provided an objective justification for the further fixed term provided, the extension created a contract of indefinite duration for the Complainant. The Complainant alleged the unilateral termination of her employment, which the Respondent claimed was pursuant to her end date, was in fact an unfair dismissal and/or victimisation for invoking her rights. She further claimed that the failure to provide an updated contract was a violation of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994.

Outcome:

The Adjudication Officer found that the fact that funding was secured only until the end of the year was a sufficient objective ground to justify a further fixed-term period of employment. The email issued by the Respondent to the Complainant which informed the Complainant of this satisfied the Respondent’s obligation to provide notice of such a ground and met the obligation to provide certainty to the Complainant’s terms and conditions of employment. As a result, the Complainant’s complaints were found to be not well-founded.

Practical Guidance for Employers:

When extending a fixed-term contract to a further fixed date, it is essential that the date which the further extension will go until and the objective ground for the further fixed-term extension is communicated to the employee prior to the end of the original fixed term.

The full case is here:  
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2024/february/adj-00046196.html