The doctrine of "frustration of contract" can apply to a contract of employment.

It can be defined as follows:-

"frustration occurs when some reasonably unforeseeable event occurs which makes the contract impossible or unlawful to perform, or radically different from what the parties originally intended. When such a contract is frustrated, it comes to an end without a dismissal on the part of the employer, or a resignation on the part of the employee" (see Collins v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry EAT on 31st January 2001).