Fixed-term workers

Case 3: The facts

A Greek law implementing the European directive on fixed-term work says that fixed-term contracts are deemed to be successive if they are separated by a period of no more than 20 days. Additionally, a contract is deemed to be "of indefinite duration" (i.e. permanent) if the length of the successive fixed-term contracts is more than two years, unless the continued use of fixed-term contracts can be objectively justified. Greece also has a national provision allowing public services to use fixed-term contracts to cope with seasonal demands.

A number of workers in Greece were employed on a succession of eight-month contracts over a period of more than two years. The contracts were separated by a period that varied between 22 days and almost 11 months. The workers claimed that they were under contracts of indefinite duration.

The ruling

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that a national provision allowing public services to use fixed-term contracts to cope with seasonal demands was not enough to amount to justification. Objective justification must relate to the particular activities in question and the conditions under which they are carried out.

Furthermore, the ECJ said, the "inflexible and restrictive" provision that fixed-term contracts cannot be successive if they are more than 20 days apart was open to misuse and was contrary to European law.

Adeneler and others v Ellinikos Organismos Galaktos Case C-212/04 ([2006] IRLR 716)