Open University v Triesman: EAT 1978

An employee was employed under a contract for a fixed term of 18 months. 3 months before that period expired she was offered and accepted further employment for 7 months subject to a waiver clause.
Held: The judgments in BBC -v- Ioannou were applied ‘not only because they are of high persuasive authority, but because . . we respectfully agree with them’. There were three considerations: the validity or otherwise of exclusions of that character should so far as possible be easy to determine, and it would not be if it was necessary to distinguish between reengagement under a new contract and renewal and extension of an existing contract; it did not necessarily follow that because a second or subsequent contract of employment was a renewal of an earlier one, it was correct to say that together they constituted a fixed term of a length equivalent to their cumulative length, though Phillips J. acknowledged that one could so describe it; and because the contract referred to a fixed term of two years or more which was renewed, the renewal must also be of two years or more

Judges:

Phillips J

Citations:

[1978] ICR 524

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

AppliedBBC v Ioannou CA 1975
Mr I was employed on a 3-year contract determinable on notice. The contract was renewed by a 2-year extension, followed by a one-year extension, and a waiver clause was agreed for the latter extension. The statute required the fixed term to be of . .

Cited by:

CitedBritish Broadcasting Corporation v Kelly-Phillips CA 24-Apr-1998
When a one year fixed term employment contract was extended by a period of less than a year, but then not again renewed, there was no unfair dismissal, since the exemption for the original term applied also to any extension. There had been . .
FollowedBP Oil Ltd v Richards EAT 12-Apr-1983
The tribunal considered how to treat a succession of fixed term contracts.
Held: The crucial question was whether one looks at the whole term of the original contract plus extensions as one contract or concentrates solely on the last . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Employment

Updated: 13 May 2022; Ref: scu.198053