Laying off a Fixed-Term Employee

The main rule is that a fixed term employee cannot be laid off. The fixed term employees cannot be laid off because they cannot be fired.

There are however exceptions to the rule and one of them is a situation where the employee works as a substitute. If the employee works as a substitute, he/she can be fired if the regular employee would be working and it would be possible to fire him/her.

It is also possible to lay-off a fixed term employee if he/she has a hybrid employee contract that includes a condition of notice. Then the reason for lay-off must be financial and production-related, i.e. not temporary diminishing.

It is not possible to include a condition in a fixed term employment contract that the employee may in circumstances other than temporary posts be laid off on the same grounds as an employee employed on a permanent basis. The employer and employee may, however, during the employment relationship on a case by case basis agree on lay-offs.