Employment Relations Act 2000

If you need more information about this Act, please contact the administering agency: Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment
66 Fixed term employment

(1)

An employee and an employer may agree that the employment of the employee will end—

(a)

at the close of a specified date or period; or

(b)

on the occurrence of a specified event; or

(c)

at the conclusion of a specified project.

(2)

Before an employee and employer agree that the employment of the employee will end in a way specified in subsection (1), the employer must—

(a)

have genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds for specifying that the employment of the employee is to end in that way; and

(b)

advise the employee of when or how his or her employment will end and the reasons for his or her employment ending in that way.

(3)

The following reasons are not genuine reasons for the purposes of subsection (2)(a):

(a)

to exclude or limit the rights of the employee under this Act:

(b)

to establish the suitability of the employee for permanent employment:

(c)

to exclude or limit the rights of an employee under the Holidays Act 2003.

(4)

If an employee and an employer agree that the employment of the employee will end in a way specified in subsection (1), the employee’s employment agreement must state in writing—

(a)

the way in which the employment will end; and

(b)

the reasons for ending the employment in that way.

(5)

Failure to comply with subsection (4), including failure to comply because the reasons for ending the employment are not genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds, does not affect the validity of the employment agreement between the employee and the employer.

(6)

However, if the employer does not comply with subsection (4), the employer may not rely on any term agreed under subsection (1)—

(a)

to end the employee’s employment if the employee elects, at any time, to treat that term as ineffective; or

(b)

as having been effective to end the employee’s employment, if the former employee elects to treat that term as ineffective.

Section 66(3)(c): added, on 1 April 2004, by section 91(2) of the Holidays Act 2003 (2003 No 129).

Section 66(4): added, on 1 December 2004, by section 27 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86).

Section 66(5): added, on 1 December 2004, by section 27 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86).

Section 66(6): added, on 1 December 2004, by section 27 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86).