Mr Naiem Butt v Door to Door Courier Services Ltd — 2021

Mr Naiem Butt presented a claim on 7 May 2021 for unfair dismissal and 'other payments'. The tribunal recorded that the 'other payments' were said to be the money lost because payslips were received late and the claimant was therefore unable to apply for a Government Covid-19 isolation payment. The tribunal noted that section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 does not give a right to claim consequential losses for breach of the itemised pay statement duty.

The claimant's ET1 indicated employment from November 2019 to January 2021. By letter dated 21 May 2021, the tribunal told him he did not appear to have the 2 years' service needed to bring an unfair dismissal claim and invited a response. He did not reply. On 8 October 2021 the tribunal wrote again, noting that no ET3 had been received from the respondent and directing the claimant to produce documents supporting the 'other payments' claim; neither party responded. Neither side attended the hearing on 15 October 2021.

The tribunal struck out the claim in its entirety under rule 37(1)(d) of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure because it had not been actively pursued, citing the claimant's failure to answer correspondence, provide documents, or attend the hearing. In the alternative, the tribunal said it would have struck the claims out under rule 37(1)(a) because the pleaded claims had no reasonable prospect of success: the unfair dismissal claim lacked the required 2 years' qualifying service, and the late-payslip loss claimed was not recoverable in the Employment Tribunal.