Mrs I Gwozdz v Formation Furniture Limited (In Administration) and 1 other — 2023

The claimant brought a complaint treated as a claim for a protective award for failure to consult under TULR(C)A 1992. The tribunal proceeded in the claimant's absence after she said she could not attend because she was in Poland looking after her sick husband, and determined the preliminary issue on the documents before it.

The tribunal found that the claimant's employment ended on 18 August 2020 and that her ET1 was filed on 26 January 2022, outside the statutory time limit. The claimant said she had not known about her right to complain and was an immigrant unfamiliar with the regulations.

The tribunal accepted it was more likely than not that the claimant did not know she could bring a protective award complaint within the primary time limit, but was not persuaded that her ignorance was reasonable or that it had not been reasonably practicable to present the complaint in time. In the alternative, the tribunal was not persuaded that the later delay was reasonable. Time was not extended and the claim was dismissed.