A new manager can destroy a working relationship in a single morning.
“Constructive dismissalWhen your employer's behaviour is so serious that you feel you have no choice but to resign, the law may treat that resignation as a dismissal. The most common basis is a fundamental breach of the imp... claim upheld”
If you resigned because of how you were treated at work, you may have a claim for constructive dismissal. The law does not require a single dramatic act. A pattern of deliberate, unreasonable behaviour can be enough.
- Being ignored, undermined with your own team, and told to leave are each individually serious. If they happened together, the employment relationship may have been broken at that point.
- A TUPEStands for Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment). If the business or work you are part of is sold or transferred to a new employer, TUPE means your existing terms and conditions transfer... transfer or business acquisition does not reset your employment rights. New management inherits the same obligations your previous employer had.
- If you are considering resigning because of how you have been treated, take advice first. Timing matters in constructive dismissal claims, and resigning too quickly or without following the right steps can affect your position.
Should I resign? A quick check
A quick three-question check to work out whether your situation is about resigning, an unfair dismissal, or reduced compensation, and which guide to read next.
Open tool →The situation
A recruiter with 20 years' experience had her company acquired in September 2023. The new director visited the office unannounced. She arrived late from a medical appointment. He ignored her greeting. Three times. He then took her into a back room and told her that if she did not want to be there, she should leave. While she was still in that meeting, he emailed her two direct reports offering them pay rises. She found out the same day. She resigned a week later.
What the tribunal found
The director argued at tribunal that she had not been constructively dismissed. The tribunal disagreed. It found his evidence inconsistent, evasive, and at times contradicted by his own witness statementA written account of the facts as someone experienced or observed them, used as evidence in an employment tribunal hearing. Each party usually prepares statements in advance and exchanges them with th.... The decision to ignore three greetings was deliberate. Pushing her phone away when she tried to show him her medical appointment was unreasonable. Telling her to leave had no proper cause. The tribunal found constructive unfair dismissalA legal claim you can bring if your employer dismissed you without a fair reason or without following a fair process. You normally need two years of continuous employment to qualify, though some dismi... under the implied termA term that forms part of your employment contract even though it is not written down. The duty of mutual trust and confidence is the most important implied term, but others include the duty to pay wa... of mutual trust and confidenceAn implied term in every employment contract that employer and employee will not, without reasonable cause, behave in a way that destroys or seriously damages the working relationship. A serious breac....
Hanson v Interaction Recruitment Specialists Ltd. Case 1800864/2024. Leeds Employment Tribunal. September 2024.