Mrs Rita Rajani Zaveri v London Borough of Redbridge — 2020

The tribunal considered whether the claimant's complaints had been presented within the applicable statutory time limits. The claims before the tribunal were unlawful deduction of wages, holiday pay and travel time, protected disclosure detriment complaints, failure to provide written terms and conditions, and failure to provide compliant itemised pay statements.

The tribunal found that the respondent made a single decision not to use the claimant for further work from 13 July 2018, and that this ended the contract on that date. It rejected the proposition that the later absence of work was a continuing failure. The tribunal also found that a claimed payment for a senior staff meeting on 15 September 2018 would have crystallised by mid-October 2018. On that basis, the latest date by which ACAS should have been contacted was 20 January 2019 for the payment-related claims, and 12 October 2018 for the protected disclosure, written particulars and payslip claims.

The claimant contacted ACAS on 12 June 2019 and presented the tribunal claim on 9 August 2019, so the tribunal found all claims were well outside the three-month limits. Applying the test of reasonable practicability, the tribunal held that the claimant's attempts to resolve matters internally, and her failure to make proper enquiries about bringing tribunal proceedings, did not make it not reasonably practicable to present the claims in time. The tribunal therefore held that it had no jurisdiction to consider the claims and dismissed them.