Mr P Dacey v Mr P Dodding (Stainless Restoration Ltd) and 3 others — 2020

Mr Dacey presented his claim on 20 August 2019, but because the Acas early conciliation number was initially incomplete the tribunal treated the effective presentation date as 27 September 2019. The claim followed the end of his employment on 12 April 2018 and arose against a background of Burnley Beadblasting Ltd entering creditors’ voluntary liquidation on 27 June 2018, with the Secretary of State refusing Insolvency Fund payments in August 2018 on the basis that he believed there had been a transfer of undertaking to SRL (Bead and Blast) Ltd.

Before any merits issue or the Secretary of State’s transfer argument could be decided, the tribunal determined that the claim was out of time. The judge found that the ordinary three-month limit had expired on 11 July 2018 for the unfair dismissal and non-redundancy money claims, and that the six-month period for redundancy pay expired on 11 October 2018. Although Mr Dacey had accepted the position when his employment ended, awaited the insolvency process, received forms to claim from the Insolvency Fund, and engaged in correspondence with officials, he did not bring a tribunal claim in 2018.

The tribunal accepted that Mr Dacey was advised about the Insolvency Fund route and Acas early conciliation, and it accepted his evidence that he later obtained new work and was affected by his mother’s illness. It also noted that he entered early conciliation on 17 September 2018 and received a certificate on 19 September 2018, but by then he was already out of time for all claims except redundancy pay. The judge found it was reasonably practicable to present a timely claim and, if not, that the eventual claim was not presented within a reasonable time. The claim was dismissed against all respondents, and the tribunal did not reach the underlying merits or any appeal against the Secretary of State’s refusal to pay.