Mr J Mckinsley v Advanced Roofing Edinburgh Ltd — 2024

Mr J Mckinsley brought claims of unfair dismissal and redundancy pay arising from his dismissal on 14 July 2023. The tribunal found that the unfair dismissal time limit expired on 13 October 2023 and the redundancy pay time limit expired on 13 January 2024. The claimant did not begin ACAS Early Conciliation until 25 January 2024 and lodged the ET1 on 26 January 2024, so both claims were out of time. Because Early Conciliation started after expiry of the ordinary limitation periods, section 207B ERA did not assist him.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had initially sought help from a Citizens Advice Bureau and ACAS, then tried to obtain a lawyer, while also dealing with hospital admissions of his parents. It found, however, that the main reason for the late presentation was his lack of awareness of the tribunal route and the time limit until around 25 January 2024. Applying the authorities it cited, including the 'reasonably practicable' test under section 111(2) ERA, Porter v Bandridge Ltd, Wall's Meat Co Ltd v Khan, Dedman v British Building and Engineering Appliances Ltd, and related cases, the tribunal held that this ignorance was not reasonable.

The tribunal also held that the claimant bore some direct responsibility for the delay because he did not return to ACAS earlier. It considered that a reasonable claimant would have realised sooner that securing paid legal representation was unlikely, and that he could have gone back to ACAS, consulted another adviser, or researched his rights earlier. It therefore concluded that it was reasonably practicable to have presented the claims within the statutory time limits and dismissed both claims for lack of jurisdiction.