Mr T Astle v Travis Perkins plc — 2020

The tribunal considered an application for interim relief following the claimant's dismissal. The claimant had first attempted to present a claim on 19 April 2020, but that form did not include an ACAS early conciliation certificate number, did not identify an exemption, and did not state that an application for interim relief was being made. The tribunal found that the earlier claim form had been correctly rejected.

The second claim, presented on 22 April 2020, did include an interim relief application. The tribunal found that the effective date of termination was 14 April 2020, when the dismissal decision was communicated to the claimant. The seven-day time limit under section 128 therefore expired on 21 April 2020, making the application one day late.

Because the tribunal had no discretion to extend the statutory time limit for interim relief applications, it dismissed the application. The judgment stated that this decision did not affect the substantive merits of the complaints, which were to be considered later after the respondent submitted its response.