Glossary

Small Business Glossary and Definitions

What is Constructive Dismissal?

Constructive Dismissal (also called constructive termination or constructive discharge) occurs when an employer conducts a serious contract breach that entitles the employee to resign. The employee is able to consider himself or herself dismissed. The employer’s actions frequently are called a “repudiatory breach.”

The contract breach can be creating a hostile work environment or simply making the working conditions so intolerable that the employee resigns rather than the employer firing him or her. Since the employee’s resignation was not voluntary, it is regarded as a termination.

The resignation may be due to one incident or several but it be soon afterward. The employee also retains his or her right to file claims.