statutory procedure is described as "unfair dismissal" but not all wrongful dismissals are unfair dismissals, and dismissal by forcing somebody to resign through serious breach of contract is known as constructive dismissal and constructive dismissal is usually a wrongful dismissal due to lack of notice. Employer loses restrictive covenants If an employer dismisses an employee without legally required notice then the employee is usually not bound by restrictive covenants (increasingly though courts treat pay in lieu of notice as curing lack of notice). This means the employer of a senior employee privy to company secrets should be careful not to unjustifiably summarily dismiss him, or put him on garden leave or pay him in lieu of notice without a contractual provision allowing it, or even miscalculate his notice period making it a day short. Sometimes an employer can restore such covenants in a compromise agreement by paying a nominal sum of, say, £500 for them. The employer cannot circumvent the risk of a summary dismissal turning out to have been unlawful by giving notice, as that would imply the employee's breach of contract was insufficient to justify summary dismissal. Notice period The notice period will usually be in the written agreement, otherwise there are statutory minimums but a court can imply a reasonable period and often will if it thinks the employee has been treated shabbily - for example, one week can turn into a month, and one month can turn into three months. The statutory minima are one week for one month to two years' service then one extra week per year of service from two to twelve years up to a maximum of 12 weeks. The minima will also override contractual provisions if insufficient. Common law notice, used by courts where the contract is silent, depends on the work, seniority, length of service and payment intervals, but not on what the employer can afford; senior specialists can be given six or even up to twelve months. Right to work The employee is always entitled to be paid during his employment and the required notice period; they are often also entitled to work. Requiring the employee to spend the time in leisure (IE at home, on vacation, etc.) in order to "get them out of the way" can be considered illegal, even though it may be usually considered a benefit to the employee. If an employer wants an exiting