Constructive Dismissal

When an employee resigns from his/her employment with or without notice because his/her employer has fundamentally breached his/her contract, the resignation is treated as a dismissal.

In order to show that he/she was constructively unfairly dismissed, the employee must show that he/she resigned in response to the fundamental breach of contract by the employer. This breach can be a one off occurrence such as a refusal to pay wages or a series of smaller ones culminating in the 'final straw' incident which then prompts the resignation. The resignation must be directly related to the breach and not some other reason.

The employee must then resign after the breach without any undue delay otherwise he/she may be seen to have accepted the breach. As a rule of thumb, an employee should normally resign within a week, although circumstances can vary enormously.

Examples of conduct that could lead to a successful claim for Constructive Dismissal are:

• Not supporting managers in difficult work situations
• Excessive disciplining employees
• Changing an employee's job content or terms
• Harassing or humiliating staff, particularly in front of other less senior staff

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