Love on the basis of your actual duties does it seem like it might be a temporary job or will they have an ongoing need for someone to do what you do? I wonder whether they are using the device of a temporary contract to have a sort of probation period (since probation periods in permanent contracts don't really mean anything)? Or are they keeping their options open to reduce staffing ‘painlessly’ in the future by issuing temporary contracts? It must be one or the other.
I think the only thing that makes a significant difference to your job security is whether there is an ongoing need for someone doing your role. If there is, and they like you, they will either make you permanent after 3 months or will issue another temporary contract (and keep rolling like that). It will make a lot of difference to how you feel (settled or not!) but it doesn’t make a huge difference in practical terms. You don’t have rights to redundancy pay until you have been there there two years. And those rights apply whether you are on a permanent or series of temporary contracts. So basically, before 2 years employers can get rid of staff relatively easily (especially if in a unique role in organisation as they can make the role redundant; much harder if they are, say, one of 5 drivers doing the same job as you’d have to have a fair basis for selecting a particular individual) ; after 2 years of work on any sort of contractual basis the worker has the right to redundancy pay.
The nature of the contract makes a bit of difference to notice periods but before 2 years they’d only gave to give you a minimum of a week’s notice of making you redundant even if you were permanent.
I don’t know whether this will make you feel better or worse but what I’m trying to say is that, from my understanding, permanent contracts don’t offer much greater protection anyway!
There may be differences in terms of pensions, sick pay etc but I think staff on temporary contracts should have the same terms as permanent staff.
I would ask them about if I were in your shoes - calmly and in a matter of fact way - why the the role isn’t on a permanent contract and why this wasn’t made clear at the time of recruitment (when you could reasonably have expected them to make it clear). I wouldn’t react too much - poker face - but I would ask!
It’s taken me an age to type this as DS has had a massive meltdown. Which DH could have averted, IMO, so I am highly irritated with him as he left me to pick up the pieces!