Short term employment contracts are often given full effect by courts. Normally, at the end of a short term employment contract, the parties need to agree to extend the terms, or the agreement ends. Sometimes, employment continues after the expiry of such an agreement. If so, the employment would likely be regarded as employment for an indefinite period, rather than a fixed one. In this case, the agreement would have an implied term requiring reasonable notice to lawfully terminate it.
Also, if an employee is hired on a short term employment agreement, and the parties routinely extend the agreement each time it is set to “expire,” a court might find that the contract is superceded by an overriding agreement requiring reasonable notice.
Further, if the employer and employee enter into a series of many new short-term contracts in a row over a long time period, a court might find that the true nature of the relationship was one of indefinite employment requiring reasonable notice of dismissal despite the contrary language of the contracts that were signed. Assessing these cases requires a detailed examination of all the circumstances.