in person For the v Mr Kay, Solicitor — 2020

This was a preliminary hearing on time limits for an unfair dismissal claim. The claimant was dismissed on 22 August 2019, the ACAS Early Conciliation Certificate was sent on 30 November 2019, and the tribunal found that the claim had to be presented by midnight on 30 December 2019. The ET1 was not filed until 22 January 2020, so it was 22 days out of time.

The claimant said he had mistakenly treated the date of the appeal outcome, 25 September 2019, as the relevant date for calculating time, and that his homelessness after dismissal, living in a van, financial pressures, and stress made it difficult to deal with the claim paperwork. The tribunal accepted that he had made a genuine mistake and was living in difficult circumstances, but found that he had a mobile phone, was receiving correspondence, knew he was entitled to bring an unfair dismissal claim, and could have checked the time limit or taken advice.

Applying section 111(2)(b) Employment Rights Act 1996 and the two-stage test for extension of time, the tribunal held that it was reasonably practicable for the claim to have been presented in time. It found there was no persuasive evidence that the claimant was physically or mentally prevented from checking the limitation position, and that the ACAS covering email warning that ACAS could not advise on tribunal time limits should have prompted him to check. Because the claim was not presented in time and time was not extended, the tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction to hear the claim and dismissed it.