The Labour Court upheld the University of Limerick’s use of fixed-term contracts for researcher Donnacha Haverty, finding that the renewals were justified by a temporary, EU-funded research project. Its determination was signed on 14 April 2015.
Haverty argued that his successive contracts had passed the four-year threshold and entitled him to a contract of indefinite duration. The University said his work was tied to a finite research project, which was extended by three months to complete unfinished work.
The Court found that his move to a different research role in 2009 had not broken the continuity of his employment. It considered the project a stand-alone temporary undertaking, rather than part of the University’s permanent needs, and found objective grounds for renewals in October 2009 and January 2013. It disallowed the appeal and upheld the Rights Commissioner’s decision that the University had not breached the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003.
The Court also noted that Haverty remained entitled to a redundancy lump sum when the project ended.