Fixed term contracts and "continuous employment"

[JustAnotherUserinParadise]

Hi Everyone,
I'm a postdoc on a 3 year fixed term contract which ends in September. I'm applying for fellowships at the moment which (if successful) would be at the same institution and if possible, I'd start it as soon as my current contract ends.

I had a baby last year and we hope to have another soon, but the maternity policy is all dependent on how many weeks "continuous service" you have... so I'm wondering what counts? Would it start again from the fellowship start date, or from the start of my postdoc?

Any similar stories welcome please!

I had a previous colleague who got almost no leave for her second baby because the university apparently put a few days gap between her contracts so she wasn't eligible...

Anyone??

I'm not sure my reply is helpful, but hopefully it'll serve to bump the thread - FWIW, when my DD was born I very briefly looked into what, if any, parental leave I could get. I couldn't get any, because I'd moved within institutions (from a faculty post to a college post), but I was told if I'd had another faculty post after the first one, I should have qualified.

Do you use the WIASN on facebook at all? They seem to have very knowledgeable people in there who I'm sure would be able to advise.

Have you asked HR at your institution?

At my institution it's specified in the appointment letter which probably isn't much help. There should be something in your staff handbook, or you should be able to ask your HR partner as ghislaine suggests.

@SarahAndQuack thanks, I've requested to join!

@ghislaine I was trying to avoid asking them... I know it shouldn't but I'm a little worried I'd be less likely to get another post if they thought I was going to go off and have another baby!

@FreiasBathtub thanks, it says
"START OF EMPLOYMENT
The start date with [university] is recorded in the contract of employment, and is also the start of continuous employment with [university] unless otherwise stated."

• I don't think that's clear on what happens if you change contracts though...

Yes, I mean it would be in the offer letter for the new job, when you get it. Having moved posts (in a professional services role) this was what happened. I think you could ask HR about continuous service without asking about mat leave - it matters for things like flexible working requests etc as well.

as far as I know, all jobs within the same institution will count as continuous employment. A colleague was on a series of different fellowships for years, then when they ran out she took a 6 month teaching job at a different uni. when she got the next fellowship & came back, she had lost her 'continuous employment years' which had built up through the previous sequential fellowships.

We had an RA who was in this position but had moved to us within the qualifying period though was employed on the same grant previously only at a different university. She did not qualify, and the information we had was that if she had started with us on the same contract she would have, or if she had been previously working for the same Uni on a different contract as long as employment was continuous.
Also, if a postdoc has several sequential short term contracts they count as one period of employment for redundancy so they will count for maternity too.

Sorry @FreiasBathtub I misunderstood you! Yes I think I will ask HR.

@worstofbothworlds ah thanks, yes that's similar... I assume all unis will be the same?!

Do you have an HR system you can log into, where you can see your gradwme, salary etc? If so that will show your employment start date. It will probably the start of your original contract. (Ex uni staff here).

will probably be

gradwme = grade

Wherever I’ve been, if you move from 1 contract to another without a break, then it’s continuous service. It doesn’t matter if there’s a change of role. Just make sure the contract is concurrent and that any new contract doesn’t start 2 or 3 days later.

@TroubleInSnowland Thanks, I think that's what happened to my colleague before.
Shame really - it'd be nice to have a couple of weeks off between jobs just for a holiday! Good thing I thought of this before doing that though!

it'd be nice to have a couple of weeks off between jobs just for a holiday!
If you have AL built up/it would build up in your notice period, you could take it as part of your first contract anyway.

@worstofbothworlds yes good point, I will do!

Update - today I attended a working parents workshop and at the end an HR person joined so I took the opportunity to ask! She said that as long as there's no gap between the contracts the continuous employment starts from the start of your (first contract) employment.
So that's good to know!
Now I just need to get another contract...