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In this guide
By Onah Attorneys Inc • Updated July 2026 • Legal information, not a substitute for advice on your specific matter.
The eternal three-month contract, renewed thirty times, ended the week someone asks for leave — the fixed-term game is old, and the LRA amendments were written to end it. Below the earnings threshold, fixed terms beyond three months need justification or the law deems you PERMANENT. Most affected workers never learn this. Here are the rules.
The s198B regime
For employees earning below the threshold (small-business exemptions aside): a fixed-term contract or renewals exceeding THREE MONTHS require a JUSTIFIABLE REASON tied to the work’s nature (a genuine project, seasonal work, a substitution for someone on leave, defined funding). No justification = deemed INDEFINITE employment — permanence by operation of law, whatever the paper says. The reason must be genuine, stated, and match reality.
Reasonable expectation of renewal
Independent of s198B and at ALL earning levels: where renewals created a reasonable expectation of another renewal (pattern of renewals, assurances, the job continuing), non-renewal is a DISMISSAL — testable at the CCMA within 30 days like any other. The employer who renewed quarterly for four years then ‘let the contract lapse’ after a grievance is the textbook loser.
Equal treatment
Below the threshold, fixed-term employees on beyond-three-month justified contracts must be treated ON THE WHOLE NOT LESS FAVOURABLY than permanent staff doing the same work — pay scales, benefits, facilities — absent justifiable distinction. And workers on genuine project contracts exceeding 24 months earn severance-type payments at completion (one week per year) in defined cases. The second-class-worker model is legislatively dead; enforcement just lags.
The end-of-contract playbook (worker side)
‘Your contract ended’ triggers a checklist: Under threshold? Over three months without real justification? → deemed permanent; the ‘ending’ is a dismissal. Renewal pattern/assurances? → reasonable-expectation dismissal claim. Same work as permanents, worse terms? → equal-treatment claim. Each routes to the CCMA — 30 days from the ‘end’. Bring every contract, payslip and renewal message; the paper pattern IS the case.
The employer’s honest version
Fixed terms remain lawful done properly: genuine reasons stated IN the contract, terms mirroring the justification (project contracts ending with the project, not calendar quarters), no drift into permanent-work-on-temporary-paper, and managed communication so no expectation builds. The audit costs an afternoon; the deemed-permanence retrenchment of twelve ‘temps’ costs a restructuring.
Frequently asked questions
I’ve been on back-to-back 3-month contracts for 3 years — am I permanent?
If you earn below the threshold and no justifiable reason ties the fixed terms to the work’s nature: almost certainly deemed permanent. The next ‘non-renewal’ is a dismissal you can fight.
Does my fixed-term contract exclude notice and severance?
Genuine fixed terms end by effluxion — but deemed permanence, reasonable-expectation dismissals, and 24-month project completions all reintroduce money. The label decides less than employers hope.
Can they end my contract early ‘per the termination clause’?
Early termination of a fixed term is breach/dismissal territory — damages for the unexpired period or CCMA claims. A fixed term binds both sides.
What deadline applies when my contract ‘ends’?
30 days to refer non-renewal-as-dismissal to the CCMA. The clock starts at the end date — move the same week.
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