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A contract must never be broken...

View profile for Chloe Pereira
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That sounds right, doesn’t it? If an employee agrees to certain terms in their employment contract, like giving notice if they want to leave, then they should stick to that. So what happens when they leave you in the lurch?

Realistically, this is a tricky one which seldom will see an employer pursuing their estranged employee to court over. That doesn’t mean as an employee you should be rubbing your hands together with glee – do you really want to leave your former employer with that impression of you? You might want a reference from them!

Breaches of contract are sometimes committed by employers too - gasp! Not me, you’re thinking – but sometimes it happens unwittingly. For example, you might think you’ve come to the difficult decision to make an employee redundant and it makes complete sense to pay them in lieu of their notice and let them leave early. However, did you know that if the contract doesn’t allow it, you’ll be breaching their contract? Add to this them feeling unhappy with the process and decision. They could take umbrage at being denied the opportunity to remain employed while they search for other roles or keeping their skills and knowledge up to date and the next thing you know, a Tribunal claim has landed on your mat (or more likely, in your inbox) and you’re wondering where the breach of contract element came from.

Get to grips with the basics from our latest Outset Insight into Breach of Contract.