The Workplace Relations Commission rejected a fixed-term worker’s claim that he was entitled to a contract of indefinite duration at a university. Adjudication officer Andrew Heavey dated the decision 6 December 2017. The worker argued that successive contracts entitled him to permanent status from August 2012. The university said one contract covered a colleague’s career break and another was an externally funded research fellowship under its research careers scheme. Heavey accepted those explanations, finding the career-break cover was a justified temporary replacement and the research contract was justified by the university scheme and external funding. He found neither contract gave rise to an entitlement to indefinite duration.