Dear Atty. Kathy,

We have a former employee, X, who availed of the Company's early retirement benefit. She submitted her own handwritten resignation letter, which simply stated only the following: "Due to financial needs, I have decided to resign and avail the early retirement benefit package. Thank you very much for all the learning opportunities during my stay with the Company. More power. Sincerely yours, X." Our Company was therefore surprised when we received a constructive dismissal complaint from X, six months after she resigned and claimed her early retirement benefit. X now claims that she was forced to resign. Will X's complainant prosper?

Sloane

Dear Sloane,

Constructive dismissal is an involuntary resignation resorted to when continued employment is rendered impossible, unreasonable or unlikely; or when there is a demotion in rank and/or a diminution in pay. It exists when there is a clear act of discrimination, insensibility or disdain by an employer, which makes it unbearable for the employee to continue his/her employment. In cases of constructive dismissal, the impossibility, unreasonableness, or unlikelihood of continued employment leaves an employee with no other viable recourse but to terminate his or her employment. It must be noted, however, that bare allegations of constructive dismissal, when uncorroborated by the evidence on record, cannot be given credence.

On the other hand, resignation is the formal pronouncement or relinquishment of a position or office. It is the voluntary act of an employee who is in a situation where he believes that personal reasons cannot be sacrificed in favor of the exigency of the service, and he has then no other choice but to disassociate himself from employment. The intent to relinquish must concur with the overt act of relinquishment; hence, the acts of the employee before and after the alleged resignation must be considered in determining whether he in fact intended to terminate his employment. In illegal dismissal cases, it is a fundamental rule that when an employer interposes the defense of resignation, on him necessarily rests the burden to prove that the employee indeed voluntarily resigned.

Based solely on your narration, it appears that X voluntarily resigned, since there is no showing that undue force was exerted upon her. Apparently, X relinquished her position when she submitted his resignation letter, which was in her own handwriting, in order to avail the Company's early retirement benefit.