PRECARIOUS INTERVALS: RETHINKING LABOUR RIGHTS FOR INDIA’S FIXED-TERM EMPLOYEES

AUTHOR – THANUSH TRIVIKRAM N & LARA ST

STUDENTS AT SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE IN LAW, TAMILNADU DR. AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – THANUSH TRIVIKRAM N & LARA ST, PRECARIOUS INTERVALS: RETHINKING LABOUR RIGHTS FOR INDIA’S FIXED-TERM EMPLOYEES, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (4) OF 2026, PG. 1051-1061, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I497

ABSTRACT

Fixed-term employment is increasingly common in India, offering flexibility to employers but leaving workers exposed during the intervals between contracts. In these periods, workers often lack wages, benefits, social security, and continuity of service, creating a zone of vulnerability that is largely ignored by existing labour laws. This paper examines the legal, social, and economic consequences of such temporal gaps and introduces the concept of “inter-contract vulnerability” to describe this overlooked form of precarity.

Through a combination of doctrinal analysis and comparative study of international labour standards, the paper explores how current laws fail to recognize the ongoing economic dependence of workers even when a formal contract has lapsed. It argues for the legal acknowledgment of inter-contract periods as a transitional employment phase, with protections such as continuity of social security contributions, wage safeguards, and safeguards against arbitrary non-renewal.

By highlighting this structural gap, the study contributes to labour law scholarship and policy discourse, advocating a shift from a strictly contract-based model of protection to one grounded in the continuity of worker dependence, thereby ensuring that temporary workers are not left Fixed-term employment

KEY WORDS: Inter-contract vulnerability, Labour protection, Worker precarity, Between contracts.