Do I have to leave my job before making a claim?

It may be helpful to think about whether you would want to stay in your role if something could be changed, e.g. your hours/working pattern, or if unwanted comments stopped? Do look at our other advice pages, e.g. on how to respond when your employer tries to impose a change to your working arrangement, how to make a flexible working request or how to challenge discrimination.

Do consider if you have any other options available to you to make some space and time to look at all of your options, e.g. can you take some leave, e.g. Parental Leave or Annual Leave? Have you spoken to your midwife or GP about your health and the effect of the situation on your wellbeing? Have you raised the issue with someone at work, informally or as a grievance? Here is more information on what you can do if you are having problems at work.

If you are being treated badly at work, we strongly recommend that you keep notes of what has happened, with dates and who was involved, as this is very important for resolving the issue, whether informally or formally through the courts.

Have a look at your employer’s grievance policy, and any other policies that they have which relate to the problem you are having – e.g. if it is harassment, this is likely to be covered in a staff handbook or bullying and harassment policy. What do these policies say you can do, and what do they say your employer should be doing? Take a look at the Acas Code of Practice for more information which may help:

If you feel that you have no option other than to resign, and you can show that your employer’s conduct or treatment of you was a breach of contract, and was so bad that you had no choice but to resign, you may have a claim for ‘constructive dismissal’. However, please note that constructive dismissal claims  are difficult and very risky claims to bring – you will need to identify what the breach of contract was by your employer, with strong evidence of your employer’s conduct, you will have to show that this was the primary reason for your resignation, and that you did not delay in resigning, and as with any claim which is brough in any Tribunal or Court, as strong as you think your case is, you can never be sure of a successful outcome.

We strongly recommend that you seek expert legal advice before resigning, and advice on the strength of any potential claim first. You should also make yourself aware of the very strict time limits for bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal, and of the way you need to raise this through Acas first – here is more information about time limits.

If you decide to resign, or have already resigned, it is important to make sure you received everything you were entitled to, including payment for the correct notice period if you did not work all of your notice, payment for any accrued but untaken annual leave, and any commission or other payments you may have been due.

If you have taken more holiday days than you’re entitled to at that point in the year, your employer might take money from your final payment to make up for this, which can come as a nasty surprise.

Leaving as well as possible can be important, so that your employer has no reason to give you an unfavourable reference, so do try to keep all conversations as professional and constructive as possible – it can be a small world and it can damage you in the long run to leave with angry words exchanged.

Finally, before leaving a job, think carefully about what this decision will do to your income – know how much you have saved, what big bills or costs are coming up, what the employment market is like for your type of role, and how much your income would be if you had to claim benefits until you find a new role.

If you have questions about how your benefits might work, or how stopping work might affect your current benefits or those which a partner receives, you can call our free Helpline for advice.

Please note that the Department of Work and Pensions may want to know what your reason for leaving your last job was, and they may apply a “sanction” to your Universal Credit if they consider that you didn’t have a good reason for resigning.