Many employees in Trinidad work under fixed-term contracts. Some of these contracts are genuine fixed-term contracts where an employer only needs to hire an employee for a short period of time.
But in many other cases, these contracts are only used to hide the fact that employees are actually permanently/indefinitely employed and to prevent them from the rights and benefits they are entitled to.
Even though you have a fixed term contract, you may be a permanent employee, if:
you weren’t employed for a specific purpose (for e.g. completing a project or dealing with a backlog) or for a specific period of time (for e.g. until a permanent worker returns from leave or until the Christmas season is over)
you’ve been continuously employed with the company for many years after the first contract expired or if you’ve been given multiple successive contracts, and you’ve been performing the same role and responsibilities for years
your employer has done or said things to make you believe that your employment would continue/that your contract would be renewed
you perform the same functions and are treated in a similar manner to the permanent employees
your employer gives you performance appraisals
you are not operating your own business and providing services to the company as an independent contractor.
If you are actually a permanent employee (even though you have a "fixed-term" contract) and your employer allows the contract to expire and terminates you, that may be an unfair dismissal and you may be entitled to compensation.
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