Contributory conduct is blameworthy behaviour by you that a tribunal finds actually contributed to your own dismissal. It can reduce your compensation even where the dismissal itself was unfair, and unlike a Polkey reduction, your employer doesn’t have to prove anything about what would have happened under a fair process.
In practice
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A technician admitted smoking in a company van and disputed safety equipment being left unsecured. His dismissal was still found unfair, but the tribunal cut his compensation by 25% because his own conduct had contributed to it.