Today, employment relationships can be formalized in any way convenient for the parties, which usually does not contradict the provisions of labor legislation. This can be both an indefinite and a fixed-term employment contract, a contract, an agreement on remote work, part-time work or work with an unfixed time, or a civil law agreement in general.
Let’s talk specifically about a fixed-term contract as a form of exercising the right to work, under which the parties determine in advance the moment of termination of the employment relationship. Unlike an indefinite contract, it is concluded for a certain period or for the time of performance of a specific job, which also determines the features of its termination.
The Labor Code of Ukraine provides that one of the grounds for terminating an employment contract is the expiration of its term (clause 2, part 1, article 36 of the Labor Code). That is, a fixed-term employment contract is terminated mainly due to the expiration of its term, but the question arises whether such termination occurs automatically?
Analysis of case law and recommendations of the Labor Inspectorate indicate that each clause of the contract has priority over general ideas about the automatic termination of a fixed-term contract.
First, let’s consider the Supreme Court Resolution No. 757/22437/22-ts dated 13.12.2023. A contract was concluded between the Military Medical Academy and a scientific and pedagogical employee for the period from August 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022. The Academy notified the employee of its unwillingness to continue the employment relationship only two days before the end of the contract – July 29, and on July 31 issued an order to dismiss him.
However, the contract contained clause 6.2.1, according to which the basis for terminating the contract is the expiration of its term. At the same time, the specified clause stipulates that the head of the Academy and the employee must, by agreement of the parties, decide no later than 2 months in the following way: the contract is terminated, the contract is extended or a new one is concluded. And if the parties do not fulfill such an obligation imposed on them by the contract, it is extended for a new term.
The Supreme Court came to the following conclusion: failure to fulfill the obligation to notify within a two-month period is a basis for applying the consequences prescribed in the contract itself – that is, its automatic extension for a new term.
The arguments of the academy that the extension of a fixed-term contract violates the employer’s rights to terminate the employment contract with the employee due to the expiration of its term, as well as that during martial law there are grounds for restricting labor rights, do not affect the fact of the violation of clause 6.2.1. of the contract. In addition, the case materials do not contain evidence of the impossibility of regulating the moment of termination of the contract within the stipulated time.
As a result, the Supreme Court agreed with the court of appeal in recognizing the order to dismiss and recover average earnings for the period of forced absenteeism as illegal.
In contrast to the previous court case, let us consider another situation where the contract clearly defines the automatic termination of the contract, set out in the Supreme Court’s resolution of 12.11.2025 No. 552/8737/24.
The director of a municipal enterprise demanded that her employment duties be declared terminated, that she be paid her average salary, and that she be compensated for moral damages. In support of her claims, she referred to the fact that a fixed-term contract was concluded between her and the Poltava Regional Council until 18.12.2017, the last day of which was the last day of work. On 18.12.2017, she filed a resignation letter due to the expiration of the contract, but no administrative act was issued, no entry was made in the work book, no calculation was made, and no work book was issued. The Poltava Regional Council, in turn, believed that the director’s employment relationship was indefinite.
According to the terms of the contract, the day the contract expires is the last day of work of the manager. The manager is considered dismissed, and the duties of the manager are performed by his deputy or another authorized person appointed by the order of the head of the regional council. That is, in such cases, the contract is terminated automatically based on the expiration of its term, and not on the basis of a decision of the Poltava regional council – a separate order of dismissal is not mandatory.
The Labor and Employment Inspectorate of the Dnipro City Council notes that although dismissal upon expiration is an independent ground that does not require an employee’s application, there are “subtleties”:
The obligation to give notice, if it is fixed in the contract, must be performed strictly according to the schedule specified in this contract,
Employers often ignore the section “Term of the contract”, considering it a formality. However, if the employer did not notify the employee of the termination of cooperation in a timely manner, and such a requirement was in the contract, the consequences provided for in the document itself may occur, most often this is an automatic extension of the contract for the same period.
A fixed-term contract is a clear algorithm for both employers and employees. If the contract requires 2 months’ notice, the notice must be delivered for signature 2 months and one day in advance. Even one day of delay can lead to the dismissal being declared unlawful.
