Mrs P Mee Mr D Williams Ms S Power Mrs N Davies Mrs C Gibson v Knowsley MBC — 2023

The tribunal considered whether it had jurisdiction to hear the equal pay claims of Mr D Williams, Ms S Power, Mrs N Davies and Mrs C Gibson. It found that each claim had been presented more than six months after the claimant’s employment with Knowsley MBC had ended, so each claim was outside the qualifying period for a standard equal pay case under sections 129 and 130 of the Equality Act 2010.

The judgment records the relevant dates it accepted: Mrs Davies’ employment ended on 28 July 2010 and her claim was presented on 13 September 2011; Mrs Gibson’s employment ended on 26 March 2010 and her claim was presented on 29 November 2010; Mr Williams’ employment ended at the latest in January 2012 and his claim was presented on 10 September 2012; and Ms Power’s employment ended on 5 September 2008 and her claim was presented on 25 January 2013. None of the claimants disputed the employment end dates after disclosure and case management steps.

Applying rule 37 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013, the tribunal held that none of the claimants had any reasonable prospect of establishing jurisdiction. It said the Equality Act 2010 does not allow the tribunal to extend the qualifying period, and that the claims would remain time-barred even if the lateness had been caused entirely by a trade union rather than by the claimants themselves.

Each claimant was given the opportunity to make written representations and to request a hearing on strike out. No claimant requested a hearing; Mr Williams made no written representations; the representations filed for Ms Power, Mrs Gibson and Mrs Davies did not identify facts which, if proved, would give the tribunal jurisdiction. The claims were therefore struck out.