Constructive Dismissal (Autodespido) in Chile

What constructive dismissal means in Chile

Chile does not use the American label "constructive discharge". The equivalent is called autodespido or despido indirecto, and it is a formal statutory route written into article 171 of the Código del Trabajo (Labor Code). It lets an employee terminate the contract because of the employer's own serious misconduct and then ask a labor court to order the severance the employee would have received if the employer had fired them.

The word that matters is formal. This is not a general right to walk out when a job becomes unbearable. The employee must point to one of the specific grounds the law accepts, must give written notices in the way the Labor Code requires, and must sue within a short period counted from the last day of work. If the Juzgado de Letras del Trabajo (Labor Court) is not persuaded, the contract is treated as a voluntary resignation and no severance is owed. We see this most with foreign managers and specialists paid by a Chilean subsidiary, where late salaries or a quiet removal of duties pile up for months before anyone asks whether the facts really meet the legal test. For the opposite situation, where the employer ends the job, see our page on wrongful dismissal claims.

What we handle

Which employer conduct qualifies

Article 171 points back to three of the grounds listed in article 160, applied to the employer instead of the employee: lack of probity or improper conduct (this covers sexual harassment and, since Ley Karin, workplace harassment), acts or omissions that endanger the safety or health of workers, and a serious breach of the obligations the contract imposes. In practice the most common basis is non-payment: salaries that are months late, unpaid overtime that the contract clearly provides for, or social security contributions that were withheld from pay but never deposited.

Courts expect the breach to be serious and, usually, continuing. A single late payment that was quickly corrected is unlikely to carry a claim. A unilateral cut in salary, a transfer to a role with a different pay structure, or a pattern of humiliating treatment documented in writing is a different story. Each fact has to be matched to a ground, not just described as unfair.

Why evidence and timing decide the outcome

The claim must be filed within sixty working days counted from the end of the contract, and the period is short enough that waiting to see whether the employer improves is itself a risk. Filing a complaint with the Dirección del Trabajo can suspend that deadline, but the rules for how long are technical, and we never rely on them without checking the dates.

Strong files contain bank statements showing missed payments, emails and chat messages where the employer acknowledges the debt, the AFP and health contribution history, and any earlier complaint to the Inspección del Trabajo. If the claim succeeds, the court orders the severance and notice pay and adds a statutory surcharge whose size depends on the ground invoked. Do not simply stop coming to work: leaving without following the formal route can be treated as abandonment, which gives the employer a ground to dismiss you for cause.