To qualify for certain statutory rights (such as unfair dismissal) it is necessary for an employee to have acquired a minimum period of continuous employment.  The general rule is that an employee’s continuous employment will be broken by any week which does not count towards continuity.

In this case the Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that an employee’s service under two contracts of employment with the same employer was continuous, even though the employee did not start work under the second contract until more than a week after the end of the first contract. It was decided that the second contract of employment began when the employee accepted the offer of employment rather than when performance commenced. (Welton v Deluxe Retail Ltd (t/a Madhouse))