A recent Court of Appeal decision has widened the ambit of the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 and the Employment Rights Act 1996 to protect overseas employees. We asked Aisling Byrne, Associate Solicitor, Cleaver Fulton Rankin Solicitors, to set out the background and importance of this case in relation to fixed term employment and territorial jurisdiction.

Regulation 8 of the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 (“the FTE Regulations”) provides that employees employed for 4 years or more on a series of fixed term contracts are automatically deemed to be permanent employees unless an employer can objectively justify why this should not be the case.

The Court of Appeal in the