What Is Condonation? How Staying Silent Can Cost You Rights in Ontario
If your employer changes your job and you carry on without objecting, you may be treated as having accepted it. That is condonation, and it cuts both ways.
Key takeaways
- Condonation means you are treated as having accepted something by your conduct.
- Carrying on under a major change without objecting can waive a constructive dismissal claim.
- You still get a reasonable time to consider a change before deciding.
- It cuts both ways: an employer that overlooks misconduct can lose the right to rely on it.
- When a term changes, object clearly rather than staying silent.
In this article
Condonation is a quiet trap in employment law. It is the idea that if you treat something as acceptable by your conduct, you can be held to that later, even if you never said the words out loud. It matters most in two situations: when your employer changes your job, and when an employer tries to rely on past misconduct. Here is how it works and how to protect yourself.
✅Quick answer. Condonation means being treated as having accepted something because of how you behaved. If your employer makes a fundamental change to your job, such as a pay cut or demotion, and you keep working under it without objecting for too long, you can be found to have condoned it, losing the right to claim constructive dismissal. You do get a reasonable time to decide first. The doctrine also runs the other way: an employer that knows about misconduct and carries on as normal can be found to have condoned it, and cannot later use it as just cause.
How condonation can work against you
When an employer imposes a significant, unilateral change, the law gives you a choice: treat it as a constructive dismissal and leave with a claim, or accept the change and continue. If you simply carry on working under the new terms without objecting, for weeks or months, a court may find that you condoned the change and accepted it as your new contract. That can extinguish a constructive dismissal claim you otherwise had. Silence, over time, can read as agreement.
You still get time to decide
Condonation does not mean you have to decide the instant a change is announced. You are entitled to a reasonable period to consider your position, get advice, and even keep working temporarily while you decide, without automatically being taken to have accepted the change. The key is not to let that reasonable window stretch on indefinitely while you say nothing. Registering a clear objection preserves your position.
How condonation can work for you
The doctrine also limits employers. If an employer knows about something an employee did, a performance issue or a piece of misconduct, and responds by carrying on as normal, promoting the person, or letting significant time pass, it can be found to have condoned that conduct. A condoned issue generally cannot later be resurrected as just cause for dismissal. This is why an employer that suddenly relies on old, previously-ignored conduct to allege cause often has a weak position.
What should you do to protect yourself?
- 1.If a core term of your job changes, do not just silently absorb it.
- 2.Object clearly and in writing within a reasonable time, even if you keep working while you decide.
- 3.Keep a record of when the change happened and when you raised it.
- 4.Get advice promptly, since the reasonable window to preserve a claim is not unlimited.
Condonation is closely tied to timing in constructive dismissal cases. See constructive dismissal from a pay or hours cut and changes to your commission or bonus plan, and if a term of your job was changed without your agreement, get a severance review before too much time passes. For the bigger picture, see severance pay in Ontario.
Frequently asked questions
What does condonation mean in employment law?
It means being treated as having accepted something because of how you behaved. If you carry on under a major change to your job without objecting, you can be found to have condoned it, which can waive a constructive dismissal claim.
How long do I have before I am taken to have accepted a change?
You get a reasonable period to consider your position, get advice, and even keep working temporarily while you decide. What is reasonable depends on the situation, but you should not stay silent indefinitely. Object clearly to preserve your claim.
Can my employer use old misconduct against me?
Often not. If an employer knew about conduct and carried on as normal, it can be found to have condoned it and generally cannot later rely on it as just cause for dismissal. Suddenly resurrecting previously-ignored conduct is usually a weak position.
What should I do if my job is changed?
Object clearly and in writing within a reasonable time, even if you keep working while you decide, and keep a record of the dates. Then get advice promptly, since the window to preserve a constructive dismissal claim is not unlimited.
Marcus Bello
Legal Writer, Mirza Law
Marcus Bello is a legal writer at Mirza Law in Toronto.
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