Your Fixed Term Contract Keeps Renewing
Your short contract has been renewed many times and now it was not renewed.
You have signed contract after contract, each one for a few months, renewed so many times that the job felt permanent in every way except on paper. Then one day, no new contract came.
A fixed term contract that keeps being renewed can start to look like ongoing employment in substance, even though each contract technically ends on its own. Non-renewal after a long pattern raises real questions connected to unfair dismissal law.
Can non-renewal of a fixed term contract be a dismissal?
It can be treated that way in some circumstances, particularly where renewals were frequent, automatic, or where you were led to expect another one would follow.
A single, genuinely time limited contract that simply expires is different from a long running pattern used to avoid giving someone permanent status. The history of renewals matters.
What should you look at in your own history?
Count how many times your contract was renewed, and how consistent the renewal pattern was, including whether there was ever a gap between contracts.
Note anything said to you about future renewal, such as a verbal assurance, an email discussing next year’s contract, or a review that assumed continuity.
Who would have to justify a non-renewal like this?
If you bring a claim and it is treated as a dismissal, your employer carries the burden of showing there was a genuine reason not to renew1.
A vague or unexplained non-renewal, especially after years of automatic renewal, is harder for an employer to defend than a clearly time limited project contract.
How much time do you have to act?
If you believe the non-renewal amounts to a dismissal, you have sixty days from the end of your last contract to file a Section 20 representation with the Director General of Industrial Relations2.
If a claim succeeds, remedies can include reinstatement or back wages, subject to the same caps that apply to other unfair dismissal claims3.
What should you do this week?
Gather every contract you signed, in order, along with any renewal letters or emails discussing your ongoing role.
If you believe you were actually treated as an employee despite a different label on paper, read about being classified as a gig worker when you are really an employee, and use the deadline calculator to check your window.
Listing out every contract and renewal date gives a lawyer a clear picture of whether this counts as a dismissal.
Common questions
Does a fixed term contract just end automatically with no rights?
Sometimes, if it was genuinely time limited and always intended to end on that date. Repeated, near automatic renewal over a long period changes that picture and can support treating a non-renewal as a dismissal.
How many renewals does it usually take before this matters?
There is no single fixed number, so the full pattern matters more than any one renewal. A long, consistent history with short or no gaps between contracts tends to strengthen the argument.
What if my last contract said clearly that it would not be renewed?
A clear, written statement that the contract would end without renewal makes your position harder, though not automatically impossible depending on when it was given. Bring the exact wording and timing to a lawyer.
Can I still claim if I was called a contractor, not an employee?
The label used in your contract does not always decide the question, since courts look at how the relationship actually worked in practice. A lawyer can help assess whether the substance points to real employment.
Sources
- In an unfair dismissal case the burden of proof rests on the employer to show just cause or excuse for what happened. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
- An employee who believes they were dismissed without just cause may file a Section 20 representation within sixty days of the dismissal. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
- Back wages awarded by the Industrial Court are capped at twenty four months for a confirmed employee and twelve months for a probationer. DNH
Keep reading
Listing out every contract and renewal date gives a lawyer a clear picture of whether this counts as a dismissal.