Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Fixed-term employees regulations – a practical guide

by Personnel Today 1 Oct 2002
by Personnel Today 1 Oct 2002

The
Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002
come into force today (1 October 2002). Marcus Rowland, a partner at Kemp
Little, provides an overview of the regulations prohibiting less favourable
treatment of employees on fixed-term contracts

The
regulations

The
aim of the regulations is to prevent employers treating employees on fixed-term
contracts less favourably than similar permanent employees and to impose limits
on the use of successive fixed-term contracts.

When
implemented, the regulations will give fixed-term employees the following
rights:

–
Not to be treated less favourably than comparable permanent employees unless
the treatment can be objectively justified
– To be informed of any "available vacancies" so that they have the
opportunity to secure permanent employment
– To be regarded as employed on a permanent contract after they have been continuously
employed on successive fixed-term contracts for four years unless certain
conditions are satisfied
– To receive written reasons for any suspected less favourable treatment within
21 days of making a request
– To bring a claim for compensation to an employment tribunal for any breach of
the regulations, and to claim automatic unfair dismissal if they are dismissed
for exercising their new rights

In
addition, the regulations will repeal the sections in the Employment Rights Act
1996, whereby fixed-term employees may waive their right to receive a statutory
redundancy payment. This will apply to contracts signed, extended or renewed
after the regulations come into force.

Which
employees are covered by the regulations?

Unlike
the regulations relating to part-time workers, the regulations only apply to
employees. Agency workers, employees on apprenticeships or government training
schemes and students on work placements of up to one year, are specifically
excluded.

The
individual must also be employed on a contract which is for a specific term or
which terminates automatically on the completion of a specific task or upon the
occurrence or non-occurrence of a specific event.

Who
is a comparable permanent employee?

When
deciding the question of whether a fixed-term employee has been treated less
favourably, it is necessary to compare his/her treatment with that afforded to
a comparable, permanent employee.

This
is defined as an individual employed on a permanent contract by the same
employer who works or is based at the same establishment as the fixed-term
employee and who is engaged in the same or broadly similar work having regard,
where relevant, to whether they have a similar level of qualification, skills
and experience.

If
there is no such permanent employee at the same establishment, the fixed-term
employee is entitled to compare themselves with someone based at one of the
employer’s other establishments.

Are
remuneration and pensions covered by the regulations?

It
was initially thought that the regulations would not apply to pay and pensions
on the basis that these fell outside the scope of the EC Fixed-Term Work
Directive.

However,
the Government decided that the regulations will go beyond the requirements of
the directive and prohibit pay and pensions discrimination.

What
constitutes "less favourable treatment"?

Less
favourable treatment may take any number of forms.  The most common examples are likely to be where a fixed-term
employee receives inferior terms – such as a lower rate of pay or less generous
benefits – than a comparable permanent employee.  In addition, the regulations provide the following specific
examples of what will constitute less favourable treatment:

–
Requiring fixed-term employees to accrue a longer period of service to qualify
for benefits
– Not providing fixed-term employees with the same training and permanent
employment opportunities

Can
less favourable treatment ever be justified?

Less
favourable treatment of fixed term employees will not be unlawful if it can be
objectively justified.  Whether it can
be justified will depend on the nature of the treatment.  For example, an employer may be justified in
not giving a fixed term employee a season ticket loan if it is expected that their
contract will end before the loan is repayed.

Importantly,
the regulations provide that when looking at the question of whether a
fixed-term employee receives less favourable treatment in relation to any term
of his or her contract, it is necessary to look at the package as a whole,
rather than the individual terms.

Therefore,
it will be permissible to deny a fixed-term employee certain benefits provided
that the overall package is just as good.

Although
this provision is sensible, there is obviously scope for dispute over the issue
of whether the overall package is comparable in the event that fixed-term
employees are offered different benefits to permanent employees.

Information
about available vacancies

Since one of the aims of the regulations is to make it easier for employees on
fixed-term contracts to move into permanent employment, they contain a
provision requiring employers to inform all fixed-term employees of
"available vacancies" in the establishment where they work. This may be
done by including the vacancy in an advertisement which the employee has a
reasonable opportunity of reading, or giving notification in some other way.

Key
points

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

From
1 October 2002, unless different treatment can be justified, ensure that
fixed-term employees receive:
– the same overall package as comparable permanent staff
– access to the same training and permanent employment opportunities
– information about available vacancies

What
does HR need to do to comply?

  1. Review the contracts of any
    fixed term employees – are any of the terms inferior to those of a
    permanent employee doing similar work?
  2. If so, review whether the
    inferior term(s) be justified by the fact that the overall package is just
    as good or by some other reason
  3. If the difference cannot be
    justified, vary the fixed term employees’ terms so that they are as good
    as those of the permanent employee
  4. Review procedures to ensure
    that fixed term employees are not unjustifiable denied the same level of
    training as comparable permanent employees
  5. Review procedures to ensure
    that fixed term employees are given the same opportunity to apply for
    permanent positions.  In
    particular, ensure that they are notified of any available vacancies
  6. Respond within 21 days to
    any request for written reasons for suspected less favourable treatment
Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
New national mimimum wage today
next post
PCS welcomes ground-breaking pension scheme for civil servants

You may also like

Forward features list 2025 – submitting content to...

23 Nov 2024

Features list 2021 – submitting content to Personnel...

1 Sep 2020

Large firms have no plans to bring all...

26 Aug 2020

A typical work-from-home lunch: crisps

24 Aug 2020

Occupational health on the coronavirus frontline – ‘I...

21 Aug 2020

Occupational Health & Wellbeing research round-up: August 2020

7 Aug 2020

Acas: Redundancy related enquiries surge 160%

5 Aug 2020

Coronavirus: lockdown ‘phase two’ may bring added headaches...

17 Jul 2020

Unemployment to top 4 million as workers come...

15 Jul 2020

Over 1,000 UK redundancies expected at G4S Cash...

14 Jul 2020

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+