exitagreementConstructive dismissal compensation calculator
There is no special payout for constructive dismissal. If a tribunal accepts that your employer’s conduct entitled you to resign, you were dismissed in law, and the money is worked out exactly as for any unfair dismissal. What is different is how you get there, and one adjustment that hits people who resigned without raising a grievance first.
Constructive dismissal against an ordinary dismissal
The awards are identical. The route to them is not.
| Ordinary unfair dismissal | Constructive dismissal | |
|---|---|---|
| Who ends the contract | The employer | You, by resigning |
| What you must prove first | Usually nothing — the employer must show a fair reason | That the employer’s conduct entitled you to leave without notice (s.95(1)(c)) |
| Qualifying service (ordinary claim) | 2 years | 2 years |
| Basic award | Age bands × years × week capped at £751 | The same |
| Compensatory award cap | Lower of £123,543 and 52 weeks’ pay | The same |
| Acas Code adjustment | Up to 25% either way | The same — and the reduction is the one that usually bites |
| Time limit | 3 months from the effective date of termination | The same, running from your resignation |
Employment Rights Act 1996 ss.95, 111, 119, 123, 124; TULRCA 1992 s.207A; limits from SI 2026/310, in force 6 April 2026.
Constructive dismissal compensation calculator
Same awards as any unfair dismissal. Limits for resignations on or after 6 April 2026. The result appears straight away.
Before tax. Used for the basic award and the 52-week limit.
0 to 25. Only if the employer unreasonably ignored the Code.
Key points
- Same money as unfair dismissal — a basic award and a compensatory award.
- The cap is usually a year’s pay: the lower of £123,543 and 52 weeks’ pay.
- No grievance can cost up to 25% of the award under TULRCA s.207A(3).
- The clock runs from your resignation — 3 months, after early conciliation.
Why the awards are the same
For the purposes of this Part an employee is dismissed by his employer if (and … only if) … the employee terminates the contract under which he is employed (with or without notice) in circumstances in which he is entitled to terminate it without notice by reason of the employer’s conduct.Read the section on legislation.gov.uk
Section 95(1)(c) treats the resignation as a dismissal “for the purposes of this Part” — the Part of the Act that contains the unfair dismissal remedies. Once the tribunal accepts it, the basic award and compensatory award follow on the same statutory formula as for anyone dismissed outright. What to do before you resign.
The basic award
In subsection (1)(c) “the appropriate amount” means— (a) one and a half weeks’ pay for a year of employment in which the employee was not below the age of forty-one, (b) one week’s pay for a year of employment (not within paragraph (a)) in which he was not below the age of twenty-two, and (c) half a week’s pay for a year of employment not within paragraph (a) or (b). (3) Where twenty years of employment have been reckoned under subsection (1), no account shall be taken under that subsection of any year of employment earlier than those twenty years.Read the section on legislation.gov.uk
With the week capped at £751, the basic award tops out at £22,530. If you have less than 2 years’ service you normally have no ordinary unfair dismissal claim to put a constructive dismissal through at all.
The compensatory award and its cap
The amount specified in this subsection is the lower of— (a) £123,543, and (b) 52 multiplied by a week’s pay of the person concerned. (1A) Subsection (1) shall not apply to compensation awarded, or a compensatory award made, to a person in a case where he is regarded as unfairly dismissed by virtue of section 100, 103A, 105(3) or 105(6A).Read the section on legislation.gov.uk
For anyone paid less than £123,543 a year, the 52-weeks limb is the lower one, so the ceiling on the compensatory award is roughly a year’s gross pay however long you are out of work. How the two limits interact.
The grievance adjustment
(3) If, in the case of proceedings to which this section applies, it appears to the employment tribunal that— (a) the claim to which the proceedings relate concerns a matter to which a relevant Code of Practice applies, (b) the employee has failed to comply with that Code in relation to that matter, and (c) that failure was unreasonable, the employment tribunal may, if it considers it just and equitable in all the circumstances to do so, reduce any award it makes to the employee by no more than 25%. (4) In subsections (2) and (3), “relevant Code of Practice” means a Code of Practice issued under this Chapter which relates exclusively or primarily to procedure for the resolution of disputes.Read the section on legislation.gov.uk
This cuts both ways. Subsection (2) lets the tribunal increase an award by up to 25% where the employer unreasonably failed to follow the Code; subsection (3), above, lets it reduce the award by the same amount where the employee did. Acas says a fair procedure should follow its Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.
Why it bites constructive dismissal claims hardest
In most constructive dismissal claims the employee is the one who ended the relationship, often after a long run of problems. If those problems were never put to the employer as a grievance, the employer has an obvious argument that the employee skipped the procedure. Raising a written grievance before resigning costs nothing and removes that argument; it also creates the record a claim will need.
Worked examples
The same six-year employee with and without a grievance on file, and a longer-serving one with and without a finding of contribution. Generated from the same rules as the calculator.
| Example | Basic award | Net loss | Compensatory | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 40, 6 years, 6 months out, grievance raised | £4,500 | £14,560 | £14,560 | £19,060 |
| Same, no grievance, 25% reduction | £4,500 | £14,560 | £10,920 | £15,420 |
| Same, employer ignored the grievance, 25% uplift | £4,500 | £14,560 | £18,200 | £22,700 |
| Age 52, 15 years, a year out, grievance raised | £15,396 | £37,440 | £37,440 | £52,836 |
| Same, 20% contribution found | £15,396 | £37,440 | £29,952 | £45,348 |
Illustrative figures. Take-home pay entered by hand; no new job assumed. Reductions and uplifts applied to the compensatory award before the cap, as the calculator does.
Thinking of resigning, or already have?
Send your postcode and the date you resigned or plan to. Firms advertising for your area can look at the claim before the time limit runs.
What reduces the figure
In ascertaining the loss referred to in subsection (1) the tribunal shall apply the same rule concerning the duty of a person to mitigate his loss as applies to damages recoverable under the common law of England and Wales or (as the case may be) Scotland.Read the section on legislation.gov.uk
Once you have resigned, the tribunal expects you to look for work. The compensatory award is built on the loss you could not reasonably have avoided, so keep a record of every application from the first week.
Where the tribunal finds that the dismissal was to any extent caused or contributed to by any action of the complainant, it shall reduce the amount of the compensatory award by such proportion as it considers just and equitable having regard to that finding.Read the section on legislation.gov.uk
If your own conduct contributed to the situation you resigned over, the award can be cut by whatever proportion the tribunal considers just. The two reductions, and the grievance adjustment, stack.
From award to settlement
The calculator gives the ceiling a tribunal could reach if you won. A constructive dismissal claim carries a risk an ordinary one does not: you have to prove the employer’s conduct justified resigning, and if you do not, there was no dismissal and nothing to compensate. Settlement offers are priced with that risk in them, which is why the negotiation is usually strongest while you are still employed and the employer faces the claim rather than the defence. How to negotiate a settlement agreement · what can and cannot be used from exit talks.
Tax and timing
Compensation for losing the job falls under section 401 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, with the first £30,000 covered by section 403; notice pay is earnings and taxed in full. How the threshold works. The claim has to be started within 3 months of the effective date of termination, after Acas early conciliation.
What changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025
Section 25 of the 2025 Act omits the compensatory award cap and cuts the qualifying period to six months. When we checked, it was not in force, and Acas says the six-month change is expected in January 2027. Until then, the figures above apply.
Common questions
How much compensation do you get for constructive dismissal?
The same two awards as any unfair dismissal. A basic award worked out from age, complete years of service and a week's pay capped at £751, and a compensatory award for the loss the dismissal caused, capped at the lower of £123,543 and 52 weeks' pay. There is no separate constructive dismissal tariff.
Is constructive dismissal compensation capped?
Yes, in the same way as unfair dismissal: section 124 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 limits the compensatory award to the lower of £123,543 and 52 weeks' pay. The Employment Rights Act 2025 omits that section, but it was not in force when we checked.
Does not raising a grievance reduce constructive dismissal compensation?
It can. Section 207A(3) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 lets a tribunal reduce an award by up to 25% where the employee unreasonably failed to follow a relevant Acas Code of Practice. Acas points to its Code on disciplinary and grievance procedures as the fair procedure for misconduct and capability matters.
How long do I have to claim after resigning?
Usually 3 months from the effective date of termination under section 111(2), and Acas early conciliation must be started first.
Is constructive dismissal compensation taxed?
Compensation for losing the job falls under section 401 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, with the first £30,000 covered by section 403. Anything that is really earnings, such as notice pay, is taxed in full.
Is it better to settle than to claim?
A settlement is priced against what a tribunal could award, discounted for the risk of losing, and a constructive dismissal claim carries the extra risk of proving the employer's breach. That is why the negotiation is usually strongest before you resign.
Sources cited on this page
- Employment Rights Act 1996, s.95 — circumstances in which an employee is dismissed
- Employment Rights Act 1996, s.119 — basic award
- Employment Rights Act 1996, s.123 — compensatory award
- Employment Rights Act 1996, s.124 — limit of compensatory award
- Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, s.207A
- The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026 (SI 2026/310)
- Acas — Unfair dismissal
Every figure above was read from the source it is attributed to on 19 September 2026. How we check this.
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