M Robison Mrs G Smith v Glasgow City Council — 2018

The Tribunal considered jurisdiction only. The claimant had resigned on 10 August 2017, contacted ACAS on 8 November 2017, received an early conciliation certificate on 6 December 2017, and submitted her ET1 online on Sunday 7 January 2018. The Tribunal found that the relevant deadline expired on Saturday 6 January 2018 and that the claim was therefore one day late.

The claimant argued that rule 4(2) of the Employment Tribunal Rules meant that, because the deadline fell on a non-working day, she had until the next working day to lodge the claim, and that in any event it was not reasonably practicable for her to lodge in time because she had reasonably misunderstood the law. The respondent argued that rule 4(2) did not extend the statutory limitation period and that online filing was available.

The Tribunal accepted the respondent's position. It held that the statutory time limit was not extended by rule 4(2), that documents sent electronically are deemed delivered on the day of transmission, and that the claimant's online submission on a Sunday showed that filing on a non-working day was possible. The Tribunal found that the claimant knew about her right to bring a claim and the relevant time limits, had made an honest mistake, but could have lodged earlier. It concluded that it was reasonably practicable for her to lodge in time and dismissed the claim for lack of jurisdiction.