Fixed-term contract

What is Fixed-term contract?

A fixed-term contract is an employment agreement with a set end date or a defined event that ends it, such as covering a colleague's parental leave or completing a project, as opposed to an open-ended permanent contract.

EU law generally treats fixed-term employees the same as permanent ones for pay and conditions, and caps how many times or how long a fixed-term contract can be renewed before it must convert to permanent - the exact rule depends on the country.

For HR records the useful thing to track is the end date itself, so a contract due to lapse or convert does not get missed. It is a different flag from employment status (full-time, part-time, contractor) - a fixed-term hire can be full-time or part-time and still have a defined end date.

Related terms

• Employment status (employment type)
• Probation period
• Notice period