Quiet Firing: What to Do When Your Employer Wants You to Quit
When an employer decides to part ways with you, it’s a legal minefield for them. Firing someone triggers financial obligations, opens the door to unpredictable litigation, and they face the harsh reality that Ontario courts have become increasingly strict when it comes to determining whether a termination clause is enforceable.
Most employees are automatically entitled to common law reasonable notice, which can be substantial. To avoid this, employers try to use termination clauses to limit their liability to statutory minimums under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). But because the employer is usually the one drafting the contract, the law places the burden on employers. If they even make a small, inadvertent mistake, the entire termination clause is unenforceable, and your entitlements default back to the common law.
In short, firing you is expensive and employers know that even a well drafted termination clause may not save them.
But if your employer can get you to quit, most of the risk vanishes. You aren’t owed a severance package, and they don’t have to worry about whether your termination clause is enforceable. They get what they want and don’t have to pay a thing.
This is the hidden math behind quiet firing. It is an often deliberate tactic used to limit your employer’s liability. But what many employees don’t realize is that quitting doesn’t always mean that your employer can get off without any consequences. You may still be entitled to a severance package if your employer crosses the line in pressuring you to quit.
Quiet Firing: How it Can Trigger a Constructive Dismissal Claim
In plain terms, constructive dismissal occurs when an employer doesn’t technically fire you, but they alter your job so fundamentally that the law treats their actions as a termination anyway. Legally, it requires three things:
Your employer makes a unilateral and substantial change to an essential term of your employment contract.
You do not agree to those changes.
You choose to leave your employment rather than accept them.
Not all forms of constructive dismissal are part of a deliberate quiet firing strategy. For instance, failing to investigate or prevent workplace harassment could lead to constructive dismissal, even though the employer may not be trying to get you to quit (though it could be part of their strategy).
Quiet firing, however, is almost always calculated. It is a coordinated set of changes designed to make staying with the company undesirable. Sometimes it’s a targeted campaign against you specifically, but other times it’s part of a broader strategy to get enough people to quit within the organization and reduce their headcount.
Here are the most common ways employers try to quiet fire their team:
Compensation Cuts: While cutting your base salary or hours is an obvious violation, employers often try to make more subtle changes such as overhauling your bonus structure, commission metrics, or eliminating stock options. As a general rule in Ontario, an overall reduction in your compensation by 10% or more can trigger constructive dismissal.
Role Restructuring (Quiet Demotion): Your company might reorganize your department and quietly strip away your authority, direct reports, or key responsibilities. Drastically reducing an employee’s duties, even if their pay stays exactly the same, can still trigger constructive dismissal.
Relocation: Requiring you to report to a different office that drastically increases your commute can also be constructive dismissal. Context matters, so a change in office location may not automatically trigger constructive dismissal, but a major change likely will.
Return to Office Mandates: While employers generally have the right to recall workers if they provide sufficient notice, the landscape changes drastically if you were hired as a fully remote worker. If your contract states that you are remote, a unilateral demand to come into an office can be a fundamental breach and trigger constructive dismissal.
Context is Key
Constructive dismissal is a highly context-specific claim. The presence of just one of these factors won’t automatically guarantee that you have a strong claim.
For example, moving your office to a building a couple of blocks away might have a negligible impact on your life, whereas moving it to the next city over could double your commute and trigger a claim. Similarly, a drop in your commission might not be constructive dismissal if your overall compensation remains the same (e.g. you receive an increase in your base salary), or if the real reason for a drop in your income is because of market forces beyond your employer’s control.
Because the line between a minor corporate change and an illegal breach is so fine, the worst thing you can do is to act on impulse. If you see some of the warning signs and think you might be the victim of quiet firing, speak to a lawyer.
When is it Reasonable to Quit?
Whether we’re talking about compensation, role restructuring, relocation, or return to office, the law applies a standard of reasonableness when determining whether you have a claim for constructive dismissal.
In short, a court will look at whether a reasonable person in your position would consider the change fundamental, justifying you quitting and treating your employer’s action as constructive dismissal. Importantly, it matters what a reasonable person would think at the time the change occurred. Hindsight is 20/20, but the law doesn’t expect you to predict the future. If, based on the information available to you at the time, all of the evidence points to the change resulting in a pay cut, you won’t be punished by the courts if your employer can demonstrate that your pay would have actually gone up based on real world data. To put it simply, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s legally a duck, even if later evidence shows that it wasn’t, in fact, a duck.
If you’re considering walking away from your job:
Don’t resign without legal advice. These types of claims are incredibly fact specific, and you should work with your lawyer to plan ahead for your claim.
Document everything. Whether it’s letters or emails from your employer, notes from calls, or any important dates, keeping a clear file can make it easier to litigate your case.
Act within a reasonable time. The longer you wait before objecting to a change in your work conditions, the easier your employer will be able to argue that you accepted the changes.
Not all changes qualify. Minor inconveniences or management decisions don’t count as constructive dismissal. Consult with a lawyer before you act.
