Updating author: Marc Meryon

On this page:
Summary
Future developments
Action point checklist
Key references
Questions and answers
Continuity of a period of employment
Beginning and end of a period of continuous employment
Weeks that count
Breaks in employment that count
Industrial disputes
Reinstatement after military service
Employment outside Great Britain
Special provisions for redundancy payments
Continuity and a change of employer
Qualifying periods for statutory employment rights

Summary

3.1

• Qualification for many statutory employment rights is dependent on the employee having been continuously employed for a specific period. (See 3.12 Qualifying periods for statutory employment rights)
• A person is treated as being in continuous employment if he or she is employed under a contract of employment. (See 3.3 Continuity of a period of employment)
• A period of continuous employment is reckoned on a week by week basis. A "week" for these purposes is the period of seven consecutive days that begins on a Sunday and ends at midnight on the following Saturday. (See 3.5 Weeks that count)
• Some weeks do not break the continuity of a period of employment but must be discounted when computing an employee's total period of continuous employment. (See 3.6 Breaks in employment that count; 3.7 Industrial disputes; 3.8 Reinstatement after military service and 3.9 Employment outside Great Britain) 
• In prescribed circumstances, a change of employer or a change in the ownership of an employer's business does not break the continuity of an employee's period of continuous employment. (See 3.11 Continuity and a change of employer)

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Future developments

3.2 There are no future developments.

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Continuity of a period of employment

3.3 A person employed under a contract of employment is said to be in continuous employment and, in time, will qualify for the statutory rights available to all employees under legislation such as the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.