Did not attend v Mellors Catering Services Ltd — 2022

The Claimant presented a claim on 12 July 2021 alleging that the Respondent had failed to pay the correct amount of holiday pay. The Tribunal treated the issue at the preliminary hearing as whether it had power to hear the claim given the relevant time limits.

For limitation purposes, the Tribunal assumed in the Claimant's favour that the claim could be treated as a series of unauthorised deductions from wages, with the final alleged underpayment made on 18 September 2020. Because the Claimant did not contact ACAS until 2 July 2021, early conciliation did not extend the time limit, and the claim should have been presented by 17 December 2020.

The Claimant did not provide the directed statement explaining why the claim was not brought earlier. Her written explanation said that she did not initially realise she could claim and later was told to put in a claim, but the Tribunal found there was no evidence about when she first thought she had been underpaid, when she made enquiries, or why she had not made enquiries earlier. The claim was dismissed as out of time.