22 Sep What is the difference between wrongful dismissal and constructive dismissal?
If you have been terminated from your employment or have experienced changes to your employment duties that may be unwarranted or unfair, you may be wondering what your next steps should be. If there is reason to believe that your employment contract has been breached or that your rights laid out in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) have not been respected, filing a wrongful or constructive dismissal claim could be your plan of action. But what is the difference between filing a wrongful dismissal claim or filing a constructive dismissal claim?
Wrongful Dismissal
When an employee is wrongfully dismissed, it means that the employer has not complied with the employee’s entitlements once terminated. These entitlements could be laid out under the ESA or agreed upon in the employment contract that both the employer and employee signed at the beginning of their employment relationship. For example, the employer may not have supplied severance pay or the proper amount of severance pay legally required for the employee.
Constructive Dismissal
When an employee files a constructive dismissal claim, the employer has made changes to the employee’s occupation that have breached the promises made in the employment contract or in violation of the ESA. This claim is filed for those employees who have an employer that has changed their work duties, role, work location etc. that is not conducive to what the employee agreed to when signing their employment contract. It is important to keep in mind that these types of changes may be the employer trying to influence the employee to resign. If the employee resigns, it is likely that the employer can avoid any owed compensation following resignation.
The main difference between wrongful dismissal and constructive dismissal is that wrongful dismissal claims handle issues that occur when an employment relationship has been severed, and the constructive dismissal handles issues that may arise within the employment relationship.
If you want to file a wrongful or constructive dismissal claim, please contact KCY at LAW by filling in an online consultation request or contact us by phone at 905-639-0999 to book your consultation today.