The plaintiff entered into an employment contract with the defendant for the period of replacement. The content of the contract indicated that the employer had been employing the plaintiff since August 20, 2018 for the period of A. T.’s justified absence from work. During the above period, the plaintiff was to be employed full-time, as a junior clerk at the U. S. C. The defendant employed the plaintiff due to the absence of another employee who was on sick leave due to pregnancy and was then to take maternity and parental leave.
The employer did not specify the final date of its duration in the employment contract, because the replaced employee – after using maternity and parental leave – planned to submit an application for vacation leave, so it was not possible to set a specific daily date for the end of the contract. On November 5, 2018, A. T. submitted an application for maternity and parental leave.
The plaintiff knew exactly who she was replacing during the term of this contract. She also knew the reason for the absence of the replaced employee, which suggested that she would be absent from work until November 2019. During her employment, the plaintiff never questioned the type of employment contract under which she was employed. From 10 July 2019 to 26 February 2020, the plaintiff was continuously unable to work due to an illness occurring during pregnancy. In August 2019, the defendant held a competition for a civil servant position, but the plaintiff did not participate in it. During her employment, the employer never indicated to the plaintiff that after the replaced employee returned to work, there would be a possibility of extending her employment contract or renewing it due to work results.
In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court of 13 February 2024 (I PSK 72/23), a fixed-term employment contract concluded to replace an employee during his or her justified absence from work (Article 251 § 4 item 1 of the Labour Code), as a rule, is terminated as a result of the replaced employee taking up work. If the date of termination of a fixed-term contract has been designated not by indicating a specific calendar date, but indirectly, by indicating an event that is to occur in the future at a specific place and time, the contract is terminated on the day on which the expected event occurred.