In person v Mellors Catering Services Ltd — 2022

The claimant worked as a catering assistant and alleged that the respondent had failed to pay the correct holiday pay during a period of furlough leave from March 2020 until the start of the school term in September 2020. The tribunal considered the preliminary issue of whether the claim had been presented within the applicable time limit.

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 on 18 September 2020. On that basis, the claim should have been presented by 17 December 2020. The claimant did not contact ACAS until 5 July 2021 and presented the claim on 6 August 2021, so early conciliation did not extend the limitation period.

The tribunal found that the claimant believed in September 2020 that she had been underpaid, could reasonably have sought advice from her union or ACAS at that time, and had not shown that it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim in time. It also found that, even if time had been capable of extension, the later delay until August 2021 was not within a further reasonable period. The claim was dismissed.