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Fixed-term contract of employment (Northern Ireland)

Northern Ireland · in English

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For an employer in Northern Ireland taking someone on for a set period — maternity cover, a season, a project: a contract with an end date that is also the written statement of particulars Article 33 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 requires. It includes the protection of the Fixed-term Employees Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002, the four-year rule for successive contracts and early termination by notice, under the law of Northern Ireland. Each party should take advice before signing. Signed by both.

  • Last updated October 29, 2026
  • Document in English

Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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When to use this document

  • You need cover for a member of staff on maternity leave in Northern Ireland.
  • You are taking people on for the season or for one project and need a contract with an end date.
  • You have been renewing fixed-term contracts for years and want to know when they become permanent.
  • You want a fixed-term employment contract under Northern Ireland law.

What you fill in

The details the document asks for.

  • Date
  • Employer
  • Employer's company number at Companies House (if a company)
  • Employer's registered address
  • Town or city
  • Employer's postcode
  • Employee
  • Employee's address
  • Employee's postcode
  • Start date
  • Earlier date continuous employment began (only if a previous employer's service counts)
  • Date the fixed term ends
  • Why the job is for a fixed term (e.g. it covers a colleague's maternity leave)
  • Length of the probationary period, if any (e.g. three months)
  • Job title
  • Main duties of the job
  • Place of work (address, or the area and the employer's base if it varies)
  • Work outside the UK for more than a month at a time, if any (where, how long, pay and terms)
  • Gross base salary
  • The pay is an amount
  • How often pay is paid
  • Payday (e.g. the last working day of each month)
  • Normal working hours and days (e.g. 37.5 hours a week, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm)
  • Overtime and how it is paid, if any
  • Annual leave, in working days
  • Bank holidays: included in the holiday days, or on top of them
  • Day the holiday year begins (e.g. 1 January)
  • Sick pay beyond statutory sick pay
  • Workplace pension scheme (its name, e.g. NEST)
  • Other benefits, if any (e.g. health insurance, bonus scheme)
  • Training the employer provides or requires, and who pays for it
  • Collective agreements that affect the terms (or “none”)
  • Where staff can read the disciplinary and grievance procedures (e.g. the staff handbook)
  • Person to write to with a grievance or an appeal (job title)
  • Notice the employee must give (e.g. one month's)
  • Notice the employer must give (e.g. one month's, or the statutory minimum if longer)
  • Person signing for the employer

Common questions

Must a fixed-term employee in Northern Ireland be treated like a permanent colleague?
Yes, unless a difference is objectively justified. Under the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002, a fixed-term employee must not be treated less favourably than a comparable permanent employee in pay, benefits or access to permanent vacancies. The written statement is still due within two months of the start, and holiday, sick pay and family leave rights apply in the same way.
When do successive fixed-term contracts in Northern Ireland become permanent?
When an employee has been on successive fixed-term contracts covering four years' continuous employment or more, a renewal or new fixed-term contract takes effect as a permanent one, unless keeping it fixed-term is objectively justified (regulation 8 of the Northern Ireland Regulations of 2002). The four years must be continuous employment; a gap between contracts can break it. An employer who relies on justification should be able to show it at the time of the renewal.
Is the end of a fixed-term contract in Northern Ireland a dismissal, and after how long is there unfair-dismissal protection?
Yes: when a fixed-term contract ends and is not renewed, the law treats it as a dismissal. In Northern Ireland unfair-dismissal protection generally needs one year's continuous employment, and a statutory redundancy payment two years. A claim goes to an industrial tribunal, normally within three months of the dismissal, after early conciliation with the Labour Relations Agency.

How you can sign this document

  • Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
  • Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked

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