Exceptional expansion means an unaccustomed increase in the undertaking’s volume of business compared with its normal rate of activity.
It does not cover situations in which permanent posts are created, but rather short-term economic events giving rise to a non-permanent growth of activity.
This definition excludes from the application of the text activities in which peak periods are in no way exceptional, but also those whose very nature implies fluctuations of volume and for which a fixed-term contract is not an option.
Peak periods may give rise to a fixed-term contract if they are seen to be exceptional. This applies in particular to holiday periods, sales or return to school.
The phase of launching of a new product or a new service constitutes in the life of an undertaking a moment of uncertainty of which it may take account in its personnel management policy. This applies all the more in cases of a new investment. It follows that in such cases the employer should be able to have recourse to fixed-term contracts.
It should be noted that a fixed-term contract, based simply on the fact of an exceptional expansion of work, without other details being given, is liable to be reclassified by the labour court as a contract of indeterminate duration, given that its subject-matter is not sufficiently precise.