The Employment Relations Authority found that reviewing a business structure while undergoing a merger did not amount to a genuine reason for a fixed-term employment agreement on reasonable grounds. The employer purchased another business and employed an employee on a fixed-term agreement of four months’ duration to align with the merger period. The reason provided for the fixed term was that during the four-month period there would be a merger between the two existing businesses, which was expected to be likely to create some role duplication and therefore require some restructuring. The Authority considered that was an insufficient justification for a fixed-term employment agreement. The employer ought to have followed a redundancy consultation process. As no such process had occurred prior to terminating employment, an unjustified dismissal was found to have taken place.

Crossley v Kwik Kiwi Cars

Reproduced with permission of Wolters Kluwer