Fixed-term workers: Ireland employment law

Essential points

• The law regulating fixed-term employees in Ireland is the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 (the “Act”).
• A fixed-term employee is employed under a contract of employment which has a specific expiry date, or will expire on a specified event or on the completion of a specified purpose.
• The protections contained in the Act are in addition to the provisions in the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015.
• Certain categories of employees are exempt from the scope of the Act including the following: 
  • • trainee members of An Garda Siochana;members of the Defence Forces;
    • nurses in training; 
    • agency workers;
    • employees in initial vocational training relationships or apprenticeship schemes; and
    • employees with a contract of employment which has been concluded within the framework of a specific public or publicly supported training, integration or vocational retraining programme.

Please note

While every care has been taken in compiling this content, neither the CIPD nor Byrne Wallace Shields may be held responsible for any errors or omissions. These notes are not intended to be a substitute for specific legal advice.