Mr A Gao v Mr W Zhou Represented by Mr Gao Ms X Feng Represented by Mr Gao Mrs F Stefan Represented by Mr Gao Mr Yu Wang — 2025

The tribunal heard joined unlawful deduction from wages claims brought by former workers of Uniview Restaurant. The claimants said they should have been paid furlough pay between March 2020 and June 2021. The respondent was the sole director of Uniview Limited, which was said to have been dissolved on 22 June 2021. The claimants had contacted ACAS on 17 May 2021 and obtained a certificate on 18 May 2021, but they did not present tribunal claims at that stage and later tried, unsuccessfully, to pursue an Initial Writ in the Sheriff Court in March 2022.

The tribunal held that the claims were presented well outside the three-month limit in section 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It accepted that the pandemic affected access to advice, but found that internet access remained available, that the claimants had already contacted ACAS in May 2021, and that there was no good explanation for the long delay before the tribunal claims were lodged on 9 July 2025. The tribunal was not satisfied that it had not been reasonably practicable to present the claims in time, and in any event found that waiting almost four years after the expiry of the statutory period was not a reasonable period for bringing the claims.

The tribunal also noted that the claimants accepted they were employed by Uniview Limited rather than by the respondent personally. On that basis, and because no allegation was made that the respondent was their employer at the material time, the tribunal said the claims against the respondent had no prospect of success. It therefore held that it had no jurisdiction to determine the unlawful deduction from wages claims and dismissed them.