The rise of non-regular employment has received a lot of coverage because of its effect on job security in the general work force. A seldom discussed side effect is the acute anxiety experienced by non-regulars as their contracts approach their expiration dates. Will mine be picked up for another year? Will I have to go out and look for a new job next month?

For public non-regular employees this emotional roller coaster starts right after Jan. 1, since most contracts end with the fiscal year in March. And for those who have been working in the same position for an extended length of time, there is no solace in the new law that goes into effect this year and which says an employer must hire a contract worker as a regular full-time employee, complete with benefits, if the worker has been in the same position for five years.

Though it's assumed that many employers will work the loophole by not renewing a contract just before the five-year period is reached and then hiring the person back after a six month "cooling off" period with an open-ended contract, non-regulars who work in the public sector aren't covered by the new law in the first place. They can be retained as non-regulars indefinitely.