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Employment Relations Act 2000

Individual employees' terms and conditions of employment - Specific terms and conditions of employment

66: Fixed term employment

You could also call this:

“A job that has a specific end date, event, or project finish, with rules to protect workers”

You and your employer can agree that your job will end on a specific date, when something happens, or when a project is finished. Before you agree to this, your employer must have good reasons for it and tell you when and why your job will end.

Your employer can’t use fixed-term employment just to stop you from getting your rights under this law or the Holidays Act 2003. They also can’t use it to see if you’re good enough for a permanent job.

If you agree to fixed-term employment, your job contract must say in writing how and why your job will end. If your employer doesn’t do this, or if their reasons aren’t real, you can choose to ignore the part of your contract that says when your job will end.

Even if your employer doesn’t follow these rules, your job contract is still valid. But if they don’t follow the rules, you can decide not to let them end your job based on the fixed-term agreement.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM59161.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Rights and equality > Anti-discrimination
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Part 6 Individual employees' terms and conditions of employment
Specific terms and conditions of employment

66Fixed term employment

  1. An employee and an employer may agree that the employment of the employee will end—

  2. at the close of a specified date or period; or
    1. on the occurrence of a specified event; or
      1. at the conclusion of a specified project.

        1. Before an employee and employer agree that the employment of the employee will end in a way specified in subsection (1), the employer must—

        2. have genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds for specifying that the employment of the employee is to end in that way; and
          1. advise the employee of when or how his or her employment will end and the reasons for his or her employment ending in that way.

            1. The following reasons are not genuine reasons for the purposes of subsection (2)(a):

            2. to exclude or limit the rights of the employee under this Act:
              1. to establish the suitability of the employee for permanent employment:
                1. to exclude or limit the rights of an employee under the Holidays Act 2003.

                  1. If an employee and an employer agree that the employment of the employee will end in a way specified in subsection (1), the employee's employment agreement must state in writing—

                  2. the way in which the employment will end; and
                    1. the reasons for ending the employment in that way.

                      1. Failure to comply with subsection (4), including failure to comply because the reasons for ending the employment are not genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds, does not affect the validity of the employment agreement between the employee and the employer.

                      2. However, if the employer does not comply with subsection (4), the employer may not rely on any term agreed under subsection (1)—

                      3. to end the employee's employment if the employee elects, at any time, to treat that term as ineffective; or
                        1. as having been effective to end the employee's employment, if the former employee elects to treat that term as ineffective.

                          Notes
                          • Section 66(3)(c): added, on , by section 91(2) of the Holidays Act 2003 (2003 No 129).
                          • Section 66(4): added, on , by section 27 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86).
                          • Section 66(5): added, on , by section 27 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86).
                          • Section 66(6): added, on , by section 27 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86).