Indefinite Period Employment Contract

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Sly21C

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So I got a job offer last week and I must give a final decision tomorrow morning. So my contract of employment is a good, I love it. My only question or uncertainty is with regards to the term of employment. My contract says "Indefinite Period", I'm used to Permanent Employment or Contract Period or Temporary Employment. So does the term Indefinite Period the same as Permanent Employment?
 
We only use this for project based employees when we are not sure about the duration. Once the project is over the employee is released.

Otherwise we opt for permanent. Things have gotten messy in the past.
 
sdd said:
We only use this for project based employees when we are not sure about the duration. Once the project is over the employee is released.

Otherwise we opt for permanent. Things have gotten messy in the past.
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Wow! So you are saying I might be let go once the project I was hired for is done? I want permanent employment, so you are saying I shouldn't take this offer?
 
Sly21C said:
Wow! So you are saying I might be let go once the project I was hired for is done? I want permanent employment, so you are saying I shouldn't take this offer?
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Whoa. I'm just commenting on the HR practise at our firm. We leave recruitment to the HR people as they are the experts.

A prudent response would be to say you're keen but want clarification on the duration of contract. What would happen once the project ends.
 
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Sly21C said:
Wow! So you are saying I might be let go once the project I was hired for is done? I want permanent employment, so you are saying I shouldn't take this offer?
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Well you certainly need to query it. You can request a permanent contract still...
 
Yep you must query. It's definitely different from permanent. Just whatsapp'd our HR lady now - she could comment much with limited info. But she reckons there are companies out there who take advantage of this.
 
DJ... said:
Well you certainly need to query it. You can request a permanent contract still...
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I can most certainly do that, but I need change as I'm tired of working for my current firm. I'm fairly young with no dependents so I can afford to take some chances :)

The following is a definition of an employment contract according to the paralegal advice website

Most employment contracts are indefinite contracts.

This means that when a employee starts working for the employer, no-one knows when the contract will end but it is expected that the employment will continue until the employee reaches the retirement age of the company.

An indefinite contract can only be ended in the following ways:

by dismissal or termination of the contract of employment as a result of misconduct of the employee, or the incapacity of the employee or on account of retrenchment.
when the employee reaches the normal retirement age laid down by the company or the industry
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http://www.paralegaladvice.org.za/docs/chap06/02.html

So I think I'm sorted ;)
 
Good luck dude!

Being young, and changing jobs means that you must take good care of your retirement. Nail those RA's while you younger.
 
To the best of my knowledge, the law states that you may only remain on a contract for a certain period (I forget how many months...), after which, you must be made permanent. I think there is also a clause about notice periods.

It's been a long time since I dealt with any of this though.

It's also why I told a very large and well-known company to get lost after a prolonged period of contractual abuse...
 
Merlin said:
To the best of my knowledge, the law states that you may only remain on a contract for a certain period (I forget how many months...), after which, you must be made permanent. I think there is also a clause about notice periods.

It's been a long time since I dealt with any of this though.

It's also why I told a very large and well-known company to get lost after a prolonged period of contractual abuse...
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It depends how much of that particular contact contributes to your total income. It was a concern raised at a previous client. Can't remember exactly, but I think it was more than 60% or something.
I was running 3 contacts at the time and this main contact fell just short of 60% so it was not a problem.
 
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