Constructive dismissal: what you need to know and do.

I will keep this simple. Constructive dismissal is when you feel forced to leave your role against your will because of the behaviour and conduct of your employer.

This is quite different from being dismissed/fired or being laid off/made redundant. In these cases, a legal process is followed fairly.

Constructive dismissal is unfair and underhand. It does not comply with a proper process. It is “unfair’ dismissal.

You should seek legal advice if you have already been dismissed. But you should note that grounds for constructive dismissal cases need to be serious, such as:

  • Pay withheld or sudden demotion / drop in pay for no reason.
  • Forced unreasonable changes to working conditions, such as weekend directed work when you have a Monday-Friday contract or directed to work within school holidays.
  • Fails to protect you from harassment or bullying from others.
  • Fails to ensure your working conditions are safe and in keeping with employment regulation.
  • Deliberately makes your working life / environment intolerable, such as through unfair consistent criticism, unmanageable/unfair workloads, keeping sustained and unreasonable pressure of unfair targets, etc.

Your employer’s breach of contract may be one serious incident or a series of incidents that are collectively serious.

If you feel your employer is treating you unfairly, you should first raise this with your employer to try resolving the dispute.

If nothing changes or you suspect that you may have grounds for a constructive dismissal claim, seek legal advice immediately.

It is worth noting that if you do have a case and you take no action, yet remain in the job, your employer may argue that, by staying, you accepted the conduct or treatment.

Proper legal advice will provide you with clarity on whether you have a case and your best course of action. If you do not have a legal case but feel forced out of your job by the toxic conditions, it is worth considering the wider impact on your life, health and happiness when making your decision to remain in post or seek an alternative role elsewhere.

No one deserves to be miserable because of a toxic work environment.

You are worth so much more than that.

Follow me to more insights and learn how Mapleleaf Vision can help you.

#LiveDaringDreams

3 actions you can take if you think you are being quietly fired.

Read more posts:

 
 

Let me tell you more.

Please enter a valid email address.

Professional

I first worked with Will whilst I was a junior member of a teaching team. I worked closely with him for around three years and he became a true mentor to me. During this time Will helped encourage me to discover my own leadership style and he mapped out what it takes to be successful. I highly recommend Will for life and career coaching.

Will is a professional, natural leader who manages to make you feel at ease. He manages to be both emphatic and encouraging, whilst also managing to challenge you to find your own answers. Will’s approach is totally non-judgmental and the sessions are really focused on you and on what you want to achieve. Working with Will has allowed me to address challenges I was facing and he brought a wealth of resources and practical tools to help me set goals, clarify my values, and explore avenues right away. Even though I left teaching 5 years ago, I still seek out Will for his help and guidance and I appreciate his versatility as a thought partner, ally, and coach. Our sessions are always productive and efficiently run, which is perfect for someone who is juggling many priorities! Will brings great communication, professionalism and quality to his work and I highly recommend him as a life/business coach.
- Jamie T (Leadership Coaching)

Highly recommended

I am so glad I found Mapleleaf Vision! Will has been super supportive and understood exactly what I needed to help me to redirect my focus. I now have fresh enthusiasm for what lies ahead.
- Greg M (Life Coaching)

Friendly

Will at Mapleleaf vision fitted me in for a last minute decision-making session that I needed to make ASAP re. a job offer / career change. He was friendly, professional, and really knew his stuff! He unpicked things that I could never have done on my own. I’m so grateful to him & will be highly recommending him to everyone! Where there is a ‘Will’, there’s a way! Thank you, Will. You truly have a gift.
- Cat K (Career Coaching)