Labour Research December 2003

Law Queries

Temporary workers

I am working on a temporary contract through a local authority bureau. At what stage do they have to make the job permanent?

There is no fixed period after which employers have to offer permanent contracts. The Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, state that employers must justify renewing a fixed-term contract where an employee has worked for the employer under more than one fixed-term contract, continuously for at least four years.

* More information: LRD booklet, Temporary workers - a guide to the new law.