Mr R Morgan v Mr S Burton — 2018

At this preliminary hearing in Carlisle, the tribunal dealt with Mr Morgan's claims against Mr Burton for unfair dismissal, age discrimination, redundancy payment, notice pay, holiday pay and arrears of pay. The age discrimination complaint had already been withdrawn before this hearing, and Employment Judge Knowles had recorded that withdrawal. The remaining issues were when the claimant last worked for the respondent, whether he had two years' continuous service, which claims were in time, and whether time should be extended.

The tribunal found that the claimant last worked for Mr Burton on 2 January 2017. It accepted that the work in the South of England from June 2016 onwards was work for Mrs Burton on her own property, not work for Mr Burton, and therefore those periods did not count towards continuous service with Mr Burton. The tribunal did not need to decide finally whether Mr Morgan was an employee, because even on the assumption that he was, he did not have two years' continuous employment for unfair dismissal or redundancy payment purposes. The redundancy payment claim was in time under the six-month limit, but it still failed because the service requirement was not met.

For the unfair dismissal, notice pay, holiday pay and wages complaints, the tribunal held that the claims were out of time. The primary time limit expired on 1 April 2017, early conciliation extended it only to 9 April 2017, and the claim was not presented until 14 June 2017. The tribunal was not satisfied that it had not been reasonably practicable for Mr Morgan to present the claims in time, so no further extension was granted. The judgment concludes that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to determine the claims.