When an employee resigns

Resignations where the employee may claim constructive dismissal

An employee may be entitled to resign if you breach a fundamental term of their employment contract. This is known as constructive dismissal.

Breaches of contract that may give rise to unfair constructive dismissal claims might include anything which makes it impossible or intolerable for the employee to continue doing the job.

Examples include:

• unilaterally cutting - or trying to cut - an employee's wages or salary or other contractual benefits
• transferring an employee to a different job or location in the absence of any stated or implied contractual right to do so
• failing to provide a safe place of work
• breach of your obligation of mutual trust and confidence, a term that is implied in every employment contract

For this reason you should always seek the employee's prior written agreement when you propose to change their employment contract. For more details see our guide on how to change an employee's terms of employment.

If you don't get the employee's agreement, they could raise a grievance with you. When dealing with such a grievance, you should follow a fair and reasonable procedure. Ideally your procedure should follow the good practice principles set out in the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Find out about the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures on the Acas website - Opens in a new window.

If you unreasonably fail to follow the code and the issue ends up at an employment tribunal, the tribunal could increase any compensation it awards to the employee by up to 25 per cent.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Finding out why an employee is wanting to resign
• Checklist: what to do when an employee resigns
• Finding out why an employee has decided to leave
• Resignations in the heat of the moment
• Resignations where the employee may claim constructive dismissal
• Resignations connected with a business transfer

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