When does a contract expiry constitute dismissal?

FWC looks at employee rights in fixed-term contract completion

When does a contract expiry constitute dismissal?

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) recently dealt with a fixed-term employment dispute where a worker claimed her employer's actions effectively turned her contract's natural end into a dismissal.

She argued that workplace obstacles in her final weeks of employment prevented her from completing required qualifications that would have secured her ongoing role.

The case raised important questions about fixed-term contracts and whether employer conduct during the contract's final period could transform a standard contract expiration into a dismissal under the Fair Work Act 2009.

At its core, the dispute examined the fine line between a contract naturally ending and an employer-initiated termination.

Fixed-term contract requirements and rights

The matter involved TasTAFE's associate teacher program, which hired industry professionals on 12-month contracts. During this period, new teachers needed to complete a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE) to transition into permanent roles. Most associate teachers finished their qualifications within this timeframe, as teaching positions were only offered to qualified staff.

The worker began her role on 1 March 2023 under a contract ending 5 March 2024. Her employment contract explicitly stated there would be no guarantee of ongoing employment.

During onboarding, she received the Associate Teacher Procedure document, which specified these roles were typically limited to 12 months, with extensions granted only in exceptional circumstances.

By January 2024, it became apparent the worker wouldn't complete her TAE by the original end date. Given her cyber security expertise and personal circumstances, the employer extended her contract by two months until 3 May 2024.

Fixed-term contract completion challenges

The extension came with clear conditions. The education project manager wrote to the worker on 13 February 2024 stating: "this is the only extension that you can receive... If you do not complete your TAE in that time frame your employment will be terminated."

Despite having 14 months to complete a qualification that typically took 6-9 months, the worker submitted most assessment tasks in her contract's final days. On 7 April 2024, she proposed submitting all tasks by 26 April. Her TAE teacher advised this approach wouldn't allow enough time for marking and potential revisions.

Between 26-29 April 2024, the worker submitted 15 tasks, with eight remaining incomplete. The employer decided against further employment as she hadn't completed the TAE, and her associate teacher role had already been extended beyond its usual duration.

Legal framework for time-limited contracts

The case turned on principles established in the Navitas English decision, where the Full Bench stated: "Where the terms of an operative time-limited contract reflect a genuine agreement on the part of [the employer] and [the worker] that the employment relationship will not continue after a specified date and the employment relationship comes to an end on the specified date... the employment relationship will have been terminated by reason of the agreement between the parties."

The worker claimed the employer prevented her qualification completion by not providing adequate support in the final weeks. The Commission noted: "[The employer] submits that the decision to not submit assignments until the last week of her employment contract, or in fact at all in relation to approximately 9 of them, in circumstances where she was advised on the 8th of April that submitting them in this manner would leave insufficient time to mark them, cannot on any reasonable basis be used to support a finding that [the employer] took steps to prevent her from completing her TAE."

The Commission ultimately found: "[The worker's] employment ended on 3 May 2024 by way of agreement between [the worker] and [the employer]... The employment ended by reason of the agreement between the parties which is evidenced in the employment contract... For the reasons stated above I am not satisfied that there was a termination at the initiative of [the employer]."