Continuity of Service - not including Fixed Term Contract?

[Jenjo1984]

Hi All,

Wondering if any lovely HR experts could clear something up for me?

I was employed on a 12 month Fixed Term Contract in a Project Management role. The original contract ended in May and was then extended (by letter) to end of July while a permanent contract was being approved. Things got a bit delayed so it's only today that I have received my new permanent contract in the post.

Everything is as expected apart from the section entitled 'Commencement & Continuity of Employment' which states - The starting date or date from which your service with XX is deemed to be continuous will be 26th August 2016'.

I'm not sure if it's a big deal (or worth making a fuss about) but I thought that continuous employment would start from May 2015, ie the first day I worked for them? Am I wrong and it only starts from the permanent contract start date even though there is no break in service?

Thanks in advance.

[Crisscrosscranky]

That doesn't sound right if there's been no break in service and you were employed as an employee previously. It could be a typo?

On your FTC did you have a fixed term contract or a contract for services? Were you paid salary via company payroll each month?

It is a big deal- you have 15 months of service which means in 9 months you hit the crucial 2 year mark in terms of employment rights and right to redundancy pay. Definitely speak to your HR department next week.

[HermioneWeasley]

Yes, if you were employed by them on an FTC your continuous employment is from when you started

[Jenjo1984]

Thanks both.

I did wonder if it might be a typo, or more likely a misunderstanding as HR is a little hit and miss – although, in fairness, more for lack of knowledge than anything sinister I think.

Just wanted to be sure before I approached them in case I was wrong as I was thinking ‘that doesn’t seem right’ but no amount of googling was giving me a definitive answer.