Mr M Bancroft v Dijla Limited and 1 other — 2022

At Cardiff by video on 27 October 2022, Employment Judge R Harfield heard a reserved preliminary judgment in Mr M Bancroft v Dijla Ltd and DP Shayban Ltd. The claimant had brought unfair dismissal and race discrimination complaints. The race discrimination complaint had already been dismissed following withdrawal by the claimant. The hearing was listed to determine the claimant's start date of continuous employment, the identity of the employer, and how the service issue interacted with the effective date of termination under the statutory notice provisions.

The tribunal rejected the claimant's case that employment started on 4 February 2020, on an alleged trial shift around 8 February, or when online training allegedly began on 11 February. It found his evidence on those dates vague and unconvincing, preferred the respondent's records, and concluded that the training was likely completed on 14 February 2020. The judge held that the employment contract became fully formed once that training was completed and that the claimant started work under the contract on 14 February 2020.

On employer identity, the reasons and final disposal state that the first respondent was the correct employer as at the effective date of termination and that the second respondent was dismissed from the proceedings, although the opening minute in the extracted text says the opposite. The tribunal did not decide whether the claimant had two years' qualifying service for unfair dismissal because the effective date of termination remained to be determined at the final hearing. No remedy was awarded in this preliminary decision.