Mr Wladyslaw Czyzewski v NK MOT Limited — 2023

The claimant, Mr Wladyslaw Czyzewski, was employed as a mechanic and his employment with NK MOT Limited ended after an incident on 1 May 2021 when a missing tool was found in his toolbox. The tribunal accepted that, on 3 May 2021, he was told that he had been dismissed for theft of tools. The claimant argued that the effective date of termination was 2 June 2021 because of the date on his P45 and the respondent’s HMRC submission referring to a payment of £1,040 for May 2021, but the tribunal rejected that position.

The tribunal applied an objective approach to whether the words used amounted to dismissal, citing London Borough of Newham v Ward, and held that there was no ambiguity about the dismissal being communicated on 3 May 2021. It found that, for the purposes of s.97 ERA 1996, the effective date of termination was 1 May 2021.

On that basis, the claim form presented on 17 September 2021 was out of time for the complaints under ss.11, 23, 93 and 111 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The tribunal considered the claimant’s application for an extension of time but found that his age, Polish nationality and need for an interpreter, and the circumstances of the Covid-19 period, did not show that it was not reasonably practicable to present the claims in time. It also rejected the argument that he believed 2 June 2021 was the dismissal date, finding that his witness statement showed he knew he had been dismissed on 1 May 2021 and that the P45 date did not determine the termination date.

The tribunal therefore held that the claimant’s complaints could not be considered. It relied on the statutory time limit issue rather than determining the merits of the dismissal, wage, written particulars or written reasons complaints.