Ending of fixed-term contracts

Dismissals that result from the expiry and non-renewal of fixed-term contracts are not counted when calculating whether 20 or more redundancy dismissals have been proposed in a 90-day period. This is because the expiry of a fixed-term contract is a reason related to the individual and not, for example, a need to change the business, and dismissal for the purpose of S.188 must be for a reason not related to the individual concerned (University and College Union v University of Stirling [2014] IRLR 287).

It is important to note that this way of counting fixed-term employment contracts for the purpose of collective consultation obligations is completely separate from the legal rights of fixed-term employees not to be unfairly dismissed or treated less favourably than their permanent colleagues in the redundancy process. The expiry at the end of its term and non-renewal of a fixed-term contract is a dismissal and can trigger redundancy rights. Fixed-term employees have these rights no matter how many are at risk of redundancy.