Updating a seasonal contract to a permanent one ensures that the employee’s long-term relationship with your company is accurately reflected in your HR system. In this article, you’ll learn when to make this change and how to update it step by step in Factorial.
Overview
The contract management feature allows you to modify employment conditions such as contract type, duration, and compensation. Changing a contract from seasonal to permanent helps maintain accurate records for compliance, payroll, and reporting.
When and why it should be used
Use this functionality when:
- A seasonal employee continues working beyond the initial contract period
- You decide to offer a long-term or indefinite position
- The employee’s role becomes part of the regular workforce
- Legal requirements require updating the contract type
How to use
- In your sidebar, go to Organisation
- Select the employee whose contract you want to update
- Open the Contracts tab
- Click on +New conditions and Update conditions
- Select a date
- Enable the toggle for Add this date as a new contract start date
- The start date of new contract will become the one you selected
- This will affect time off and payroll calculations
- Click on Next update the fields
- In Legal and extra information, access End date and select No end date
- Review all details carefully
- Click on Update conditions to apply the new contract
If the system still shows the employee as seasonal, ensure the new contract has been saved correctly and check that the start date of the permanent contract is current or in the past.
If there are overlapping contract dates, verify that the seasonal contract end date does not overlap with the new permanent contract.
If changes are not reflected in reports, confirm the correct effective date is set and check if filters are excluding the new contract.
Tips and best practices
- Always create a new contract instead of editing the existing seasonal one to preserve historical data
- Align the start date of the permanent contract with the end date of the seasonal contract to avoid gaps
- Double-check legal requirements in your country regarding contract transitions
- Communicate clearly with the employee and document their acceptance
FAQ
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Should I delete the seasonal contract?
No, it’s best to keep it for historical and legal tracking purposes.
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Can I make the contract permanent without creating a new one?
No, to update an employee from seasonal to permanent, you must create a new contract with the updated conditions.
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Will this affect payroll automatically?
It depends on your payroll configuration. Review payroll settings to ensure everything aligns with the new contract.
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What happens if I set a future start date?
The seasonal contract will remain active until the new permanent contract start date is reached.