Constructive dismissal

Constructive dismissal is when you’re forced to leave your job against your will because of your employer’s conduct.

The reasons you leave your job must be serious, for example, they:

• Do not pay you;
• Suddenly demote you for no reason;
• Force you to accept unreasonable changes to how you work - for example, insinuating dismissal if they want you to work night shifts when your contract is only for day work;
• Let other employees harass or bully you;
• Regularly not being paid the agreed amount without a good reason;
• Allow you to be bullied or discriminated against; and
• Made unreasonable changes without your agreement.

 

Your employer’s breach of contract may be one serious incident or a culmination of a series of incidents that are serious when taken together. You should try and sort any issues out by speaking to your employer to solve the dispute. An employee can make a constructive dismissal claim if they resign because they think their employer has seriously breached their employment contract.

 

Settlement agreements

A settlement agreement is sometimes used to end an employment relationship in a way the employer and employee both agree with. If you sign a settlement agreement, you cannot make a constructive dismissal claim to an employment tribunal.

 

Resigning because a solution cannot be found

Resigning is a big step to take, and a constructive dismissal claim can be difficult to win at an employment tribunal. If there's been a serious breach of contract you may want to leave your job straight away instead of working your notice period. Doing this could be a breach of your employment contract but it can be justified sometimes. In this situation, we would suggest you contact us so we can assist you in drafting a letter that opens the door for a constructive dismissal claim.

 

How we can help

You would reach the stage of a constructive dismissal after exhausting normal channels, on the assumption that we are already acting for you then your caseworker will continue to do so, if not then we suggest that you need to open a case by simply clicking on the link at the top of the page, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.

 

Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.