Claimant v The Chancellors, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford

Outcome

Facts

The claimant was employed as a Post Doctoral Research Assistant by the University of Oxford from October 2017 under successive fixed-term contracts, all funded by external research grants. The current contract ran from 1 April 2022 to 30 March 2025, funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Having been continuously employed for over four years, the claimant sought a declaration that his contract should be made permanent under the Fixed Term Employees Regulations 2002. The respondent relied on the objective ground that research work was dependent on time-limited external grant funding with no expectation of continuation beyond available funding.

Decision

The tribunal dismissed the claim, finding that the use of successive fixed-term contracts was justified on objective grounds. The tribunal concluded the contracts responded to a genuine need to match employment to secured grant funding, were appropriate for that purpose, and reasonably necessary to ensure the department did not exceed available funds and retained flexibility for changing research priorities. The tribunal declined to assess whether the respondent's financial management was reasonable, focusing only on whether there was a genuine need.

Practical note

Legal authorities cited