Removing a worker from attendance records and stopping pay can be tacit dismissal
Claim for constitutional severance for tacit or constructive unjustified dismissal. It succeeds when the employer is shown to have taken actions from which the end of the employment relationship can reasonably be inferred.
Official heading (Spanish): ACCIÓN DE INDEMNIZACIÓN CONSTITUCIONAL POR DESPIDO INJUSTIFICADO TÁCITO O EQUIPARADO. PROCEDE CUANDO SE DEMUESTRA QUE LA PARTE PATRONAL DESPLEGÓ ACTOS QUE PERMITEN INFERIR RAZONABLEMENTE LA CONCLUSIÓN DE LA RELACIÓN LABORAL.
The ruling
A worker claimed constitutional severance after being removed from the electronic attendance system and left unpaid for two consecutive pay periods. The local public-employment tribunal ruled for the employer, finding she had terminated the relationship. The Collegiate Circuit Court held that a tacit or constructive dismissal claim succeeds when the facts and evidence reasonably show the employer ended the relationship.
Our take
The ruling arises in public employment, but its logic carries over to any company: dismissals are not always announced; sometimes they are simply carried out. Removing someone from attendance controls or stopping their pay are signs a court may read as dismissal, even if nobody said so. For employers, the risk lies in undocumented administrative exits. We recommend that any pay stoppage or system removal have a written, communicated reason. If the aim is to end the relationship, do it with a termination notice or settlement, not by omission.
What to do
- Bar removals from attendance or access systems without HR approval and a documented reason.
- Ensure no wage withholding occurs without legal basis and written notice to the worker.
- Formalize every termination with a termination notice or a settlement ratified before the authority.
Details
- Court
- Collegiate Circuit Court
- Type
- Isolated precedent
- Identifier
- XI.1o.A.T.1 L (12a.)
- Digital registry
- 2032186
- Published
- May 29, 2026
- Area
- Labor and social security
- View official source ↗
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Prepared by Artegia for information only; not legal advice. Headings in English are unofficial translations. The official text is the one published in the Semanario Judicial de la Federación or the TFJA journal.