ETZ 4(WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4103730/2020 Preliminary Hearing at Dundee on December 2020 Employment Judge: M A Macleod Paul Randall v David Ritchie (Implements) Ltd — 2021

The claimant brought claims of unfair dismissal and breach of contract arising from the termination of his employment by David Ritchie (Implements) Ltd. The tribunal found that he started work on 9 September 2019 and that the effective date of termination was 15 May 2020, when he was told verbally that his employment would end. A confirming letter dated 21 May 2020 stated that the dismissal was on the ground of poor performance and that one week's paid notice would be paid. The tribunal also found that the claimant received payment in respect of notice after dismissal.

The respondent argued that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to hear an ordinary unfair dismissal claim because the claimant did not have the required two years' continuous service under section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had been employed for less than two years and therefore could not bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. It considered whether the claimant's further particulars disclosed any basis for automatically unfair dismissal, but found no indication of a protected disclosure, health and safety reason, or assertion of a statutory right, and treated the additional material as expanding on his complaint of unfair treatment rather than introducing a new claim.

The tribunal held that, because the claimant lacked the necessary qualifying service and no exception under section 108 applied, the unfair dismissal claim could not proceed and had to be dismissed. It also recorded that, since the claimant had been paid his notice pay, the breach of contract claim fell away. The formal judgment was that the claimant's claim was dismissed for want of jurisdiction, and no monetary remedy was awarded.