Ending a fixed term contract
Where a fixed term contract will end at the stated expiry date without renewal, managers must act in good time to follow the correct procedure to bring the employment to an end. Depending on the employee's length of service and the reason for the fixed term contract, managers will follow either the Non Renewal of a Fixed Term Contract procedure or the Redundancy procedure.
Outline guidance on the correct procedure is available in this table: Fixed term reasons and which procedure to use, please seek advice from the HR Advisor team if you are not clear on which procedure to follow.
Four months before the fixed term employee is due to receive notice, HR will email the manager to remind them that the contract is coming to an end and the steps they must follow. For reasons of fairness HR will aim to provide 3 months' notice for all employees on fixed-term contracts that are ending.
- For employees where the reason for non renewal is not redundancy* (eg where the fixed term contract is used to cover maternity leave or other long term absences or secondments or to work on a specific and time limited procedure outside business as usual) and/or the employee has less than 21 months' continuous service working for the University at their contract end date, follow the Non Renewal of a Fixed Term Contract procedure.
- For employees where the reason for the non renewal is redundancy*, and/or the employee has more than 21 months continuous service working for the University at their contract end date, follow the Redundancy procedure.
*Redundancy is defined in section 139(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 as applying to situations where dismissals are wholly or mainly due to the following reasons:
- The employer has ceased, or intends to cease, continuing the business; or
- The requirements for employees to perform work of a specific type, or to conduct it at the location in which they are employed, has ceased or diminished, or are expected to do so.
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