Fixed Term Contract v "Permanent" Contract

anamenottaken · 16 July 2017 at 11:26AM

What do employers see as the advantage(s) of a FTC?

Are they just trying to avoid a potential claim of unlawful discrimination for dismissing at the one year point?

sangie595 · 16 July 2017 at 11:41AM

anamenottaken wrote: »

What do employers see as the advantage(s) of a FTC?

Are they just trying to avoid a potential claim of unlawful discrimination for dismissing at the one year point?

Unlawful discrimination starts from day 1 (in fact before that, as it could apply to selection procedures). There are no longer any real benefits for an employer - they are an anachronism from the days before employment rights were extended to people on FTC's.

jobbingmusician · 16 July 2017 at 11:44AM

Except that your employer (especially if in the voluntary sector) might not have the funds to employ you for longer than a year?

System · 16 July 2017 at 11:45AM

anamenottaken wrote: »

What do employers see as the advantage(s) of a FTC?

Are they just trying to avoid a potential claim of unlawful discrimination for dismissing at the one year point?

From Acas........

Fixed Term Work
There are a number of employee/employer relationships which are now different from the traditional 9-5 job. A person's employment status will determine their rights and their employer's responsibilities.

People on a fixed term contract can be either an employee or worker, a fixed term employee may be:

a seasonal or casual person who has been taken on for a peak period
a specialist employee taken on for a project
covering for maternity leave.
Workers on a fixed term contract would:

have a contract with ans agency rather than the company they are working for.
be on a work experience placement as a student or trainee.
be on a 'contract of apprenticeship'.
be a member of the armed forces.
Key points

Fixed term contract are contracts that last for a specified time, or will end when a specified task or event has been completed.
Employers must not treat fixed term workers less favourably than permanent employees doing the same or a similar job.
Fixed term workers who work continually for the same employer for two years or more may have the same redundancy rights as a permanent employee.
Contracts will normally end automatically when they reach the agreed end date.
Employees on a fixed term contract for four or more years may automatically become a permanent employee.
A fixed term contract terminates on a specified date or at the end of a particular project or a specific task, fixed term employees could be employed for seasonal work, casual employees taken on to cover a busy period or someone to cover for maternity leave

SparksAlive · 16 July 2017 at 11:56AM

Where I work, we take on FTC's for specific projects that need additional help. They usually have deadlines and the assumption is that after the deadline has passed, there won't be a need for that work anymore, so we won't need the employee.

I don't think it's about dodging anything or avoiding responsibility because as someone else said, employee rights start from day one of employment.

[Deleted User] · 16 July 2017 at 12:09PM

anamenottaken wrote: »

What do employers see as the advantage(s) of a FTC?

Being honest with a job applicant when the work isn't there beyond so many months or weeks.

anamenottaken · 16 July 2017 at 12:15PM

sangie595 wrote: »

Unlawful discrimination starts from day 1 (in fact before that, as it could apply to selection procedures). There are no longer any real benefits for an employer - they are an anachronism from the days before employment rights were extended to people on FTC's.

That's what I thought.

I was trying to work out why an employer I know is going down the route of introducing a one-year FTC.

anamenottaken · 16 July 2017 at 12:18PM

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Except that your employer (especially if in the voluntary sector) might not have the funds to employ you for longer than a year?

But the fixed term doesn't give them any kind of advantage when they could simply give notice in the normal way for a lawful reason.

anamenottaken · 16 July 2017 at 12:20PM

Deleted%20User wrote: »

Being honest with a job applicant when the work isn't there beyond so many months or weeks.

thanks - I suppose they might think it reinforces what they may have said in an interview, advertisement and offer letter.

Crazy_Jamie · 16 July 2017 at 12:56PM

anamenottaken wrote: »

But the fixed term doesn't give them any kind of advantage when they could simply give notice in the normal way for a lawful reason.

It depends what the notice period is for the fixed term contract. It's not unusual for the notice period to be the entire term, or a large chunk of it, which obviously isn't to the employer's advantage when compared to the notice period that may apply in a contract of employment.

There are a variety of reasons why fixed term contracts are preferred, some of which have already been mentioned. One overarching reason is flexibility; they allow companies to specifically target an area of their business in a way that they have choice over. Fixed term contracts may also, depending on the nature and wording of them, not be contracts of employment either, which can benefit one or both parties in different ways. For example, it is not unusual for consultancy arrangements to be fixed term despite with neither party wanting a contract of employment to exist as a result.

anamenottaken · 16 July 2017 at 1:20PM

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

It depends what the notice period is for the fixed term contract. It's not unusual for the notice period to be the entire term, or a large chunk of it, which obviously isn't to the employer's advantage when compared to the notice period that may apply in a contract of employment.

There are a variety of reasons why fixed term contracts are preferred, some of which have already been mentioned. One overarching reason is flexibility; they allow companies to specifically target an area of their business in a way that they have choice over. Fixed term contracts may also, depending on the nature and wording of them, not be contracts of employment either, which can benefit one or both parties in different ways. For example, it is not unusual for consultancy arrangements to be fixed term despite with neither party wanting a contract of employment to exist as a result.

I guess I'll eventually find out the detail of what is being proposed.

Fixed Term Contract v "Permanent" Contract

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