Ms B Skarbek-Cielecka v Green Cross Recruitment and 1 other — 2019

Ms B Skarbek-Cielecka presented her claim on 16 March 2018 after early conciliation from 10 January to 7 February 2018. In later correspondence she quantified three heads against Green Cross Recruitment and Alpha Medical Support: £70 described as an unauthorised payment to her employers, £269.94 for unauthorised deductions from wages, and £34.54 for unpaid holiday pay. At the hearing on 23 May 2019, Employment Judge Ferguson sat alone and first determined whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction to hear the claims.

The Tribunal held that the claimant's employment ended on 2 November 2017 and that the last alleged deduction also took place on that date. The primary time limit under s.23 ERA 1996 and Regulation 30 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 therefore expired on 1 February 2018, and the effect of s.207B ERA 1996 and s.30B WTR 1998 was to extend that deadline to 7 March 2018. The claim form was presented on 16 March 2018, nine days late.

Applying the 'not reasonably practicable' test, the Judge found that it was reasonably practicable for the claimant to have presented the claim in time. The claimant knew there was a deadline before her CAB appointment on 15 March 2018, had some familiarity with tribunal proceedings from a recent claim against another employer, and took no steps to submit the claim earlier. The stress and other difficulties she described did not prevent her from filing before the deadline. The claim was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and no remedy was awarded.