Mrs K Rooprai v Loram UK Ltd — 2021

Mrs K Rooprai brought claims for unfair dismissal and unauthorised deduction from wages against Loram UK Ltd. At a preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Phillips sitting alone, both parties accepted that the claims had been presented outside the primary time limits. The issue was whether it had been reasonably practicable for the claimant to present them in time, so that the tribunal could extend time.

On the unfair dismissal claim, the tribunal found the claimant's evidence about being told by Acas and CAB that she had 30 days from the ACAS certificate was highly implausible and unsupported by contemporaneous evidence. The judge found it more likely than not that her recollection of being told 30 days was incorrect. The tribunal also found that she had actively researched the time limits online and understood that unfair dismissal and wages claims had a three months less one day time limit, so it was reasonably practicable for her to have presented the claim in time. The unfair dismissal claim was therefore dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

On the wages claim, which related to a single day's unpaid holiday pay for 26 March 2020, the tribunal accepted the respondent's case that the claimant knew about the annual leave issue in early April 2020. It relied on contemporaneous email evidence recording a discussion on 2 April 2020 about that date being taken as annual leave. The tribunal found the claim was also out of time when it was reasonably practicable to bring it sooner, and dismissed it for want of jurisdiction. No remedy was awarded because neither claim proceeded to a merits determination.