Mr D Stephenson, Counsel For the v Respondent — 2021

Mr Saadettin Acikalin was employed by Galanz (UK) Ltd as Country Manager under a fixed-term contract starting on 2 July 2018, with a basic salary of £130,000 per annum. The claim form advanced ordinary unfair dismissal under s.98(4) ERA 1996 and automatic unfair dismissal for making a protected disclosure under s.103A ERA 1996. The tribunal recorded that the claimant had raised concerns around July 2018 about Chinese staff at the UK office and whether they had appropriate work visas.

The tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that a board decision had been taken in China on 20 November 2018 to terminate the claimant for poor performance following failed probation. It found that Ms Sin told the claimant on 23 November 2018 at the Watford office that his employment was terminated immediately and that he would be paid one month's pay in lieu of notice. The judge rejected the claimant's account that he was allowed to work until 21 December 2018, relying on the contemporaneous messages, the request for an official termination letter, the termination email and letter, the return of company property, and the P45 showing a leaving date of 23 November 2018.

The tribunal held that the effective date of termination was 23 November 2018. It rejected the ordinary unfair dismissal claim because the claimant had not completed two years' continuous service. It then found that the primary three-month limitation period for the s.103A claim expired on 22 February 2019, ACAS was not notified until 4 March 2019, and the claimant had time to present his claim within the primary period. The tribunal found he was not under a genuine mistaken belief that he had been dismissed on 21 December 2018 and that it was reasonably practicable to present the claim in time, so the whistleblowing dismissal claim was struck out for want of jurisdiction.