Constructive dismissal
Plain-English definitions for England and Wales. General information, not legal advice. Laws and figures change - always check the current position on GOV.UK.
Constructive dismissal Where you resign in response to a fundamental breach of your employment contract by the employer - conduct serious enough to entitle you to treat the contract as at an end. You generally need to resign promptly and not affirm the breach. It is treated as a dismissal for unfair dismissal purposes.
Related terms
- Unfair dismissal
- A statutory claim that an employer ended your employment without a fair reason, without a fair process, or both. Most employees currently need 2 years' continuous service to claim ordinary unfair dismissal, though many 'automatically unfair' reasons need no qualifying period.
- Wrongful dismissal
- A breach-of-contract claim, usually for dismissal without the notice (or notice pay) your contract or statute required. It is different from unfair dismissal: it is about the contractual notice, not the fairness of the dismissal, and it has no qualifying period.
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