Mrs M Nichols v GBT Travel Services UK Ltd Heard: Remotely by video — 2022

At the private preliminary hearing, the tribunal dealt with two live claims: unauthorised deduction from wages and indirect sex discrimination. The claimant had also pursued pregnancy/maternity discrimination, disability discrimination and religion or belief discrimination, but on 13 January 2022 she said she did not wish to proceed with those claims, and they were dismissed upon withdrawal. No monetary award was made.

On the wages claim, the claimant said she had been underpaid while on furlough and maternity leave. The tribunal found that the last alleged deduction was no later than 31 October 2020, so ACAS early conciliation should have started by 31 January 2021. It held that it was reasonably practicable to bring the claim in time, relying in particular on the claimant's own evidence that she would have been fit to return to work on 2 November 2020, her HR ticket on 23 December 2020, and her later grievance process through March and April 2021. The claim was therefore struck out for want of jurisdiction.

On indirect sex discrimination, the complaint concerned the respondent's voluntary redundancy scheme, which was launched around 3 August 2020 and closed on 20 August 2020 while the claimant was on maternity leave. The tribunal held that the act complained of could not be later than 20 August 2020, so the primary limitation period expired on 19 November 2020. It refused to extend time on a just and equitable basis, taking into account the length of delay, the claimant's ability to pursue internal grievance steps and obtain legal advice and ACAS contact in early March 2021, and the balance of prejudice between the parties. That claim was also struck out for lack of jurisdiction.