{"id":46652,"date":"2012-04-10T18:42:16","date_gmt":"2012-04-10T22:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/beenfired\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job"},"modified":"2026-05-01T16:38:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T20:38:21","slug":"what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job","status":"publish","type":"publications-page","link":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job","title":{"rendered":"What if my employer forces me to leave my job?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes being forced out of a job is the same as being fired. The law calls this &#8220;constructive dismissal&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Constructive dismissal happens when your employer does something that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>changes things at work for you in a major way, and<\/li>\n<li>you do not agree to or accept it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When this happens, it&#8217;s like being fired. So if you leave the job, you have the same rights as if you were fired. This includes the right to termination pay.<\/p>\n<h2>Examples that are like getting fired<\/h2>\n<p>Here are some examples of things that might be serious enough that it would be like getting fired:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your employer lowers your wages by a lot or refuses to pay you what they owe you.<\/li>\n<li>Your employer takes away core responsibilities and lowers your position. For example, you&#8217;re no longer a supervisor and are doing the work you used to supervise others to do.<\/li>\n<li>Your employer abuses you, harasses you, or discriminates against you in a way that goes against your human rights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The law about what is and what is not constructive dismissal is complicated. A lot depends on the details of your situation. It&#8217;s important to <strong>get legal advice<\/strong> right away. See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/beenfired\/where-can-i-find-out-more-and-get-legal-help-1\">Where can I get help and information?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-46652","publications-page","type-publications-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What if my employer forces me to leave my job? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What if my employer forces me to leave my job? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sometimes being forced out of a job is the same as being fired. The law calls this &#8220;constructive dismissal&#8221;. Constructive dismissal happens when your employer does something that: changes things at work for you in a major way, and you do not agree to or accept it. When this happens, it&#8217;s like being fired.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-01T20:38:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job\",\"name\":\"What if my employer forces me to leave my job? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-10T22:42:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-01T20:38:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Publication pages\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"What if my employer forces me to leave my job?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/\",\"name\":\"CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What if my employer forces me to leave my job? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-my-employer-forces-me-leave-my-job","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What if my employer forces me to leave my job? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)","og_description":"Sometimes being forced out of a job is the same as being fired. The law calls this &#8220;constructive dismissal&#8221;. Constructive dismissal happens when your employer does something that: changes things at work for you in a major way, and you do not agree to or accept it. 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