Permanent employee on fixed term contract

[GeekIsGood]

It would be great if someone could give me some advice here. I can't find another thread about this specifically and have been Googling to no avail.

I am a permanent employee of my organisation, having worked for them for 5.5 years. Two and a half years ago I was encouraged to apply for an internal post which would be a natural and expected promotion in this line of work (like assistant advisor to advisor).

This new job was on a fixed term contract as it was based on funding from a partner organisation. The initial term was six months, the expiry date coming and going with not a peep from HR. We (there were eight of these fixed contract posts created at the same time) were clearly expected to assume that our employment in these roles was continuing despite being outwith the fixed term contract dates.

Three months after the expiry date, with a lot of email chasing, we finally got new contracts through with an end date of March 2010.

However a couple of months after the new contracts came through I applied for and got another fixed term internal job (same job title, same dept, but covering a different work area) which is funded internally and has existed as a permanent post for years. My contract end date is still the same, being two months from now.

The only reason my post is fixed term is because I replaced someone who moved laterally into my old dept, and her new post is only fixed term because it's being partly funded by my old post in that dept, which is having to be kept open for me as I am still on a fixed term contract in my current role! So if I was made permanent in her old role she could be made permanent in her new one, and vice versa. We are both permanent employees. It's ridiculous.

There are two issues that I would really like some advice on, if what I have said is clear:

1. We were told this week that the other organisation has pulled their funding and those eight posts will reduce to three when the contracts expire in March. The people in those posts will all have to compete by application and interview for the two remaining posts.

If unsuccessful, those who had previous permanent jobs have been told they will have to return to those jobs. However they have been on a higher grade and status for 2.5 years so it would be like a demotion. And it wouldn't be the same job after this length of time. Is this reasonable? Also, one colleague has only ever been on fixed term contracts but these add up to 3.5 years continuously. Does she have the right to expect the company to redeploy her if possible, and give her redundancy payment if not?

2. I am not affected by the withdrawal of partner funding in my current post but as part of the above announcement, I was told if my post was made permanent (and it won't be discontinued as I'm the only person covering this essential field) it will 'of course' have to be advertised and I would have to apply and interview for my own job. Surely they can just make me permanent in this role and don't have to open it up to everyone? What if I didn't get it? Would I have to return to the lower pay and status job I left 2.5 years ago in a totally different part of the organisation?

This all just seems wrong. Our HR dept excels in giving the bosses no info or the wrong info usually, so it's left up to us to sort out what should be happening.

Sorry for the huge post, it is really complicated which is why nobody seems to know for sure what to do with us permanent people on fixed term contracts! Any advice would be really appreciated.

1. Anyone with at least a year's continuous service (whether or not labelled fixed term) has the same employment rights. That applies to your friend and to you.

When made redundant, your employer has to look for suitable alternative positions for you. This means that you have the right to positions at your current level if there are any. I don't think it would be reasonable to expect to step back down to your old level, so you would have the right, IMO, to be made redundant instead. Of course, you might decide any job was better than no job if there are no posts at your level...

1. Sorry, I don't really understand. Why are they saying it must be advertised? Are you some form of public sector with ethics rules demanding all fixed term to perm contracts are advertised? If not, why must it be advertised?

Sounds like a right royal cock up to me. What should have happened is a temporary secondment to the fixed term role, then, if the funding went, you would return back to your old job, at your old level. It's because they didn't do it this way that I don't think they can just send you back.

Thanks for ploughing through all that and responding!

I just wasn't sure whether 2.5 years at a higher level meant you should be able to expect to be redeployed at that level without having to apply and interview for posts, rather than be shunted back down the career ladder which would be a bit humiliating after that length of time. Plus you would be expected to do the same work, just with less pay and status!

It is public sector. The person who told me they would have to open my job up for interview if it became vacant permanently, seemed to be saying their hands were tied. But I dredged up a policy for temp staff (which I'm not, just in a temp role) which says if a temp role becomes permanent it may be appropriate to offer it straight to the person covering the role. Hopefully I can wave this at HR and make them change their minds!

I just want reassurance that I shouldn't accept that they 'have' to make me interview again for my own job, with the possibility someone else will get it! Even if I did get it, I do not want to have to go through all that process when I already did that in 2008 and got the bloody job.

They are very happy with my work so it would not benefit anyone. I don't see how it would be unfair to make me permanent in this role after so long and none of my colleagues would bat an eyelid. If I interviewed for it and for some reason didn't get it, I would be back where I was 2.5 years ago. There is precedence for them shifting people around depts without opening it up for interview.

Just need to have a barney with HR I suppose! My contract doesn't run out until the end of March. If it goes past that date and I hear nothing about an extension or permanence (which is likely due to their lack of organisation), do I have the right to assume I am in this role indefinitely?

Also, at the meeting yesterday where we were all told that the funding was almost definitely going to be pulled, there was no HR rep present and not one single person used the word 'redundancy'! The boss said stuff like 'we have no obligation to maintain your salary if you have to return to your old post' etc. And nobody has had anything in writing.

They gave everyone the very strong impression that they were out on their ear if they didn't get offered one of the three remaining posts. Of course I have told them all that they should get advice and are eligible for redundancy, depending on length of service.

It's a shambles.