The Workplace Relations Commission found Trinity College Dublin failed to renew Hugh O’Neill’s fixed-term contract partly to prevent him gaining a contract of indefinite duration, and ordered €15,000 compensation. The decision was dated 3 January 2023.
O’Neill worked for the university from 3 October 2017 to 31 December 2020 under several fixed-term contracts. He said the contract was not renewed to prevent him acquiring the stronger employment status. The university denied this, saying recruitment had been paused during the pandemic and his role ended because of redundancy and a change in strategy.
The adjudication officer found any further extension would have given O’Neill a contract of indefinite duration, while the university’s expansion plan envisaged new fixed-term roles. The officer concluded that the prospect of O’Neill acquiring that status was at least part of the reason his contract was not renewed. The officer said he might later have faced redundancy, but that was not inevitable and would have followed a process.
A contract of indefinite duration is an ongoing contract without a fixed end date. The WRC found the complaint well-founded under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act.