In recent decades enterprises worldwide have reaped the advantages of hiring employeeson a contractual fixed-term basis, thus derogating from their traditional participation inthe social protection of workers and insulating themselves from legal liability for unjustdismissal. A broad spectrum of effectiveness has emerged in this development, as differentcountries have adopted varying measures to regulate the conditions under which fixedtermemployment contracts are written, applied, and interpreted. This important book- which reprints papers submitted to the 10th Comparative Labour Law Seminar of theJapan Institute for Labour Policy and Training held in Tokyo on 8 and 9 March 2010 -details the regulatory approaches to fixed-term contracts in major industrial jurisdictionsin Asia and Europe, providing an opportunity to explore normative directions for labour lawand policy in the age of a diversified workforce.