Ms C Potter v St Helens Borough Council — 2021

Ms C Potter brought a claim arising from her term-time employment at Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School, seeking recovery of an alleged shortfall in holiday and pension payments under the Working Time Regulations 1998. The respondent argued that the claim had been presented against the wrong employer because the claimant had named the Governors of Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School rather than St Helens Borough Council, and that the absence of an early conciliation certificate naming the Council was fatal to jurisdiction.

Employment Judge Peck held that the decision in Drake International Systems Ltd v Blue Arrow Ltd applied. The tribunal accepted that there was a mixed employment picture at the school, with some staff employed by the Governors and others, including the claimant, employed by the Council, and that the Council and the Governors were closely linked for the purposes of the matter before the tribunal. The judge concluded that the claimant's failure to identify the Council at the early conciliation stage was not fatal to jurisdiction under section 18A(8).

Applying rule 34, the Selkent principles and the overriding objective, the tribunal substituted St Helens Borough Council for the original respondent. It held that the amendment would not cause undue hardship, delay or evidential prejudice, and that requiring the claimant to start early conciliation again would not serve justice and would create unnecessary expense. The claim was therefore not dismissed for want of jurisdiction, and the matter was stayed until 31 December 2021 for an update from the parties.