The concept of “constructive dismissal” has its
roots in English law and was adopted by the Industrial Court in the
course of the development of the labour law jurisprudence under the
previous Labour Relations Act. With the enactment of the current
Labour Relations Act (“LRA”) and the
codification of our law of unfair dismissal, the concept of a
constructive dismissal was retained.
Section 186(1)(e) of the LRA states that a dismissal takes place
if an employee terminates employment because the employer has made
continued employment intolerable for the employee. Despite there
being no specific reference to the term “constructive
dismissal” in this section, the phrase has stuck. In
practice, the most difficult question faced when fighting a
constructive dismissal case is: when will the employer’s
conduct be regarded as being intolerable? The labour courts have,
over the years, developed guidelines in this regard. The recent
decision of the Labour Court in HC Heat
