The ECJ has held that an employer's need to replace employees who are temporarily absent on maternity, parental or other leave may be an objective reason, within the meaning of the Framework Agreement on fixed term work, for renewing other employees' fixed-term contracts. This may be so even where the employer is large and needs family-leave cover on a regular basis. However, there will be no objective reason where an employee's fixed-term contract is renewed to cover permanent rather than temporary needs.

In considering whether the renewal of a fixed-term contract is justified by an objective reason, a national court must take all the circumstances into account. These will include the number of fixed-term contracts that the employee in question has worked under for the same employer and the cumulative duration of those contracts. (Kücük v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen C-586/10.)