09/05/2012
CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL
A BIT OF ADVICE....
Constructive dismissal may be defined as "a situation in the workplace, which has been created by the employer, and which renders the continuation of the employment relationship intolerable for the employee - to such an extent that the employee has no other option available but to resign."
It is not for the employer (respondent) to show that he did not introduce any intolerable condition - it is for the employee to show that he did. THE BURDEN OF PROOF IS ON THE EMPLOYEE!!
There have been many referrals of constructive dismissal to the CCMA which have not succeeded - because the applicant has failed to prove the introduction of any intolerable working condition, amounting to repudiation by the employer of the employment contract. It is importent to exhaust the internal remedies such as a grievance procedure or approaching and discussing the siruation with a more senior manager before resignation!
In Pretoria Society for the Care of the Re****ed v Loots [1997] 6 BLLR 721 (LAC), the Court referred to Jooste v Transnet Ltd t/a SA Airways (1995) 16 ILJ 629 (LAC), stating that the first test was whether, when resigning, there was no other motive for the resignation - in other words, the employee would have continued the employment relationship indefinitely had it not been for the employer's unacceptable conduct.
It went further to state that when any employee resigns and claims constructive dismissal, he is in fact stating that under the intolerable situation created by the employer, he can no longer continue to work, and has construed that the employer's behaviour amounts to a repudiation of the employment contract.
Be careful not to resign before internal mechanisms were exhausted!