9.—(1) For the purposes of this Part an employee shall, subject to this Part, be taken to be dismissed by his employer if but only if—

(a) the contract under which he is employed by the employer is terminated by the employer, whether by or without notice, or

F25[(b) where, under the contract under which the employee is employed by the employer the employee is employed for a fixed term or for a specified purpose (being a purpose of such a kind that the duration of the contract was limited but was, at the time of its making, incapable of precise ascertainment), that term expires or that purpose ceases without being renewed under the same or similar contract, or]

(c) the employee terminates the contract under which he is employed by the employer F26[…] in circumstances (not falling within subsection (5)) such that he is entitled so to terminate it by reason of the employer‘s conduct.

(2) An employee shall not be taken for the purposes of this Part to be dismissed by his employer if his contract of employment is renewed, or he is re-engaged by the same employer under a new contract of employment, and—

(a) in a case where the provisions of the contract as renewed or of the new contract as to the capacity and place in which he is employed, and as to the other terms and conditions of his employment, do not differ from the corresponding provisions of the previous contract, the renewal or re-engagement takes effect immediately on the ending of his employment under the previous contract, or

(b) in any other case, the renewal or re-engagement is in pursuance of an offer in writing made by his employer before the ending of his employment under the previous contract, and takes effect either immediately on the ending of that employment or after an interval of not more than four weeks thereafter.

(3) (a) An employee shall not be taken for the purposes of this Part as having been dismissed by his employer if—

(i) he is re-engaged by another employer (hereinafter referred to as the new employer) immediately on the termination of his previous employment,

(ii) the re-engagement takes place with the agreement of the employee, the previous employer and the new employer,

(iii) before the commencement of the period of employment with the new employer the employee receives a statement in writing on behalf of the previous employer and the new employer which—

(A) sets out the terms and conditions of the employee’s contract of employment with the new employer,

(B) specifies that the employee’s period of service with the previous employer will, for the purposes of this Act, be regarded by the new employer as service with the new employer,

(C) contains particulars of the service mentioned in clause (B), and

(D) the employee notifies in writing the new employer that the employee accepts the statement required by this subparagraph.

(b) Where in accordance with this subsection an employee is re-engaged by the new employer, the service of that employee F27[with the previous employer] shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be service with the new employer.

(4) For the purposes of the application of subsection (2) to a contract under which the employment ends on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday—

(a) the renewal or re-engagement shall be treated as taking effect immediately on the ending of the employment under the previous contract if it takes effect on or before the next Monday after that Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and

(b) the interval of four weeks mentioned in subsection (2) (b) shall be calculated as if the employment had ended on that Monday.

(5) When an employee terminates his contract of employment without notice, being entitled to do so by reason of a lock-out by his employer, subsection (1) (c) shall not apply to that termination.

(6) Where by virtue of subsection (2) an employee is treated as not having been dismissed by reason of a renewal or re-engagement taking effect after an interval, then, in determining for the purposes of section 7 (1) whether he has been continuously employed for the requisite period, the period of that interval shall count as a period of employment.

(7) In determining for the purposes of this Act whether at a particular time before the commencement of this Act an employee was dismissed by his employer, the appropriate provisions of this section shall apply as if the matter to be decided occurred after such commencement.