Did waiting weaken your claim?
You kept working after the breach, and you worry that hurt your case.
Affirmation of contract is the legal idea behind a simple warning. If you plan to resign over your employer’s conduct, waiting too long can work against you.
What it means
It means carrying on working as though nothing serious happened, after your employer commits a breach serious enough to justify resigning. Your conduct suggests you accepted the change.
If enough time passes without action, the law can treat you as having affirmed, or accepted, the new terms. This can happen even if you never said so.
Why it matters to you
Courts weigh this in a constructive dismissal case. You must not have delayed or carried on as normal, and you must act within a reasonable time.1
There is no single fixed deadline for this step. Quick, decisive action is generally viewed more favourably than a long, unexplained wait.
How fast do you need to act
If you are thinking of resigning because of your employer’s conduct, treat time as working against you. Seek advice soon, instead of waiting to see how things develop.
Read about constructive dismissal and repudiatory breach for the fuller test this condition sits inside.
Once you resign, your separate 60-day filing window begins. You can check it on the deadline calculator.
If you kept working for some time before resigning and you are considering a claim, an independent employment lawyer can look at how that delay affects your facts. They can advise whether it is worth pursuing.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.
Common questions
Is there an exact number of weeks I have before I affirm the contract?
No fixed number is set out in the statute. It depends on your circumstances, but acting sooner gives you a stronger position if the issue is later examined.
What if I had a good reason for waiting, like finding a new job first?
A genuine, explainable reason for the delay is worth raising, since courts do consider context. It is still safer to resign and explain the delay than to wait with no clear reason.
Sources
- The four conditions summarised in Bayer (M) Sdn Bhd v Anwar Abd Rahim require, among other things, that the employee did not delay or affirm the contract, and must act within a reasonable time. Thomas Philip, Forced To Resign? This May Be Constructive Dismissal
Keep reading
If you kept working for some time before resigning and you are considering a claim, an independent employment lawyer can look at how that delay affects your facts. They can advise whether it is worth pursuing.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.