In person For the v Mr Gregory Hine, solicitor — 2020

The tribunal heard a preliminary issue in a claim listed as unfair dismissal. It found that Mr T Sivasuthan was an employee of BBK Partnership Chartered Accountants from 1 September 2011 until 2 May 2018, but not after 2 May 2018. The judge accepted that from the later date the parties had orally agreed that the claimant would work through P & T Management Services Limited, a company he controlled, and that he was providing services in that capacity rather than under a contract of employment.

In reaching that conclusion, the tribunal relied on s.230 ERA 1996 and treated the post-2 May 2018 arrangements as inconsistent with employment. It noted that the claimant was providing services via his company, that he was also providing services to third parties during the working week, and that the respondent and those third parties were plainly customers or clients of P & T. The judge also recorded that the claimant himself had asked to cease being an employee and become an independent contractor.

Because the claim was presented on 3 October 2018 and early conciliation ran from 2 September 2018 to 4 September 2018, the tribunal said the three-month time limit under s.111 ERA 1996 expired on 1 August 2018. The respondent raised limitation, and the claimant said he had been given a P45 dated 5 June 2018 and that he had decided to leave BBK on 20 August 2018 and emailed that the following day. However, the judge did not finally decide whether it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim in time, saying that issue had not clearly been listed for the 6 July 2020 hearing.

The case remained listed for a full hearing on 5 and 6 October 2020, and the judge made further case management orders in a separate document. No monetary remedy was awarded in this judgment.