Editing Constructive dismissal (section)

===Relation to unfair dismissal===
A common mistake is to assume that constructive dismissal is exactly the same as unfair treatment of an employee – it can sometimes be that treatment that can be considered generally evenhanded nevertheless makes life so difficult that the employee is in essence forced to resign<ref>''Savoia v Chiltern Herb Farms Ltd'' [1982] IRLR 166</ref> (e.g., a fair constructive dismissal might be a unilateral change of contract justified by a bigger benefit to the business than the inconvenience to the employee), but the Employment Appeal Tribunal doubts that it will be very often that the employer can breach [[Employment Rights Act 1996|ERA96]] s98(4) whilst being fair.

A constructive dismissal occurs when the employer's repudiatory breach causes<ref>''British Leyland UK Ltd v McQuilken'' [1978] IRLR 245</ref> the employee to accept that the contract has been terminated, by resigning. The fairness of it would have to be looked at separately under a statutory claim for unfair dismissal.

The problems for the employer are that constructive dismissal is a contractual claim, which can be made in a tribunal for up to £25,000 or in court without limit, and, by dismissing constructively, it by definition misses out on the correct procedure meaning that even if the reason was fair, the decision was probably not, and so an unfair dismissal usually arises, creating a statutory claim alongside the contractual claim.

The court can look behind the lack of, or different, stated reason given by the employee at the time of resignation to establish that a cover story was in fact a resignation caused by fundamental breach.<ref>''Weathersfield Ltd v Sargent'' [1999] ICR 425</ref>