Mr T Ilozue, FRU Representative For the v DRS Care Homes Ltd — 2018

The claimant worked as a care worker for the respondent from 29 October 2017 to 4 April 2018. He said that after hernia surgery on 18 January 2018, he returned to work on 5 February 2018 and was required to do strenuous manual work without a proper back-to-work assessment or lighter duties, which caused him discomfort. He also said he complained about this treatment on 28 February 2018, but the requested adjustments were not made.

The tribunal noted that the claim form referred to unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, and unpaid accrued holiday, but the reconsideration application concerned the rejection of the unfair dismissal claim. It accepted the representative's submission that the claimant was not advancing an ordinary s.98(4) ERA 1996 unfair dismissal claim requiring two years' qualifying service. Instead, the claimant was pursuing an automatic unfair dismissal claim under s.100(1)(c) ERA 1996 based on a complaint about health and safety matters.

On that basis, the tribunal held that the earlier rejection of the unfair dismissal claim was wrong and allowed reconsideration, setting aside the rejection. It ordered the respondent to amend its response and directed the claimant to serve a schedule of loss. The judgment did not determine liability or award any remedy.