Mr S Wragg v Safetykleen UK Ltd — 2020

This was an open preliminary hearing by telephone on 12 June 2020 before Employment Judge Little. The claimant, Mr S Wragg, brought complaints about rest breaks and whether those breaks should have been paid, describing the issue as 45 minutes per day being taken from his wages over a number of years. The respondent was Safetykleen UK Ltd. The tribunal was only deciding jurisdiction, not the underlying merits.

For the breach of contract complaint, the tribunal applied Article 7 of the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) Order 1994. The effective date of termination was 31 October 2019, so the primary time limit expired on 30 January 2020. The claimant did not present the claim until 7 April 2020, and the tribunal found that the ACAS early conciliation process could not extend time for this head because it began after the primary limitation period had already expired.

The tribunal also found that it had been reasonably practicable for the claimant to present the breach of contract complaint in time. It accepted the claimant's evidence that he was aware by around Christmas 2019 that he had a potential claim, after speaking with colleagues or former colleagues in the union. On that basis, the tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction to entertain the breach of contract complaint.

For the unlawful deduction from wages complaint, the tribunal applied section 23 ERA 1996 and section 207B ERA 1996. It found that the last relevant payment was the payslip/payment dated 28 November 2019, not the date of termination. Calculating the effect of early conciliation, the tribunal held that the limitation date was extended to 24 April 2020, so the claim presented on 7 April 2020 was in time. The tribunal therefore held that it had jurisdiction to determine the unlawful deduction from wages complaint, but it did not decide whether any deduction had actually been made; that issue was left for a final hearing.