A recent Labour Court decision has reiterated the strict criteria to be complied with for an employer to validly rely on the exclusion contained in Section 2(2)(b) of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 – 2015 as amended (“the Acts”), which permits the non-application of the Unfair Dismissals Acts to the termination of fixed-term or specified purpose contracts.

Section 2(2) (b) of the Acts sets out the basis on which the exclusion applies, namely where the fixed-term contract or specified purpose contract has been executed in accordance with the following criteria:-

1. The contract must be in writing;
2. The contract must be signed by or on behalf of the employer;
3. The contract must be signed by the employee;
4. The contract must provide