Abstract EN:

Fixed-term contracts rose considerably these twenty-five past years in Spain. Just as in France, the legislator had to intervene in order to give framework to the use of this contract. If the two systems made fixed-term contracts an exception, thus privileging the recruiting at indeterminate duration, the regulation relating to the fixed-term contracts comprises an ambivalent character in Spain and in France. On one side, the legislation of the two countries limit the recourse to this contract when it is used jointly with the contract of employment at indeterminate duration like instrument of flexible management of the personnel. But, in addition, the contract affected of a term was largely privileged by the two laws as stimulative of employment within the framework of public policies of fight against unemployment and exclusion. In Spain, the laws of these contracts shows a certain flexibility, whereas in France it appears definitely more formal and "sanctionnator". The working relationship in fixed-term contracts raises moreover the question of the application of the guarantees recognized to the permanent employees. In this respect, the two legislations seem to be oriented towards the progressive development of a statute of the fixed-term contracts. This statute is articulated around the principle of equal treatment and of non-discrimination, principle also recognized under European Union's regulations, with the directive of June, 28, 1999. Nevertheless, the construction of the Spanish law remains now less contrued than in France. Moreover, the end of the contract remains the principal source of precariousness in Spain, whether for the renewal, for the succession of contracts or for the rules of anticipated rupture. Indeed, the rules of anticipated rupture merges with the rules on dismissal and does not fully ensure the stability of the contractual relation, contrary to the French regulation which locks the possibilities of rupture before the term of the contract.