Claimant v Sodexo Limited — 2023

The claimant's employment terminated on 5 September 2019 and the primary time limit for an unfair dismissal complaint expired on 4 December 2019. The ET1 was presented on 15 July 2022, over 31 months after the primary time limit expired. Early conciliation in 2022 did not extend the primary time limit because it occurred after that time limit had already expired.

The Tribunal accepted that it was not reasonably practicable for the claimant to present the claim within the initial three-month period because she was waiting for the outcome of her internal appeal, was not trade union supported, had not sought advice, and had not otherwise been put on notice of the time limit. However, by around March 2020 Citizens Advice Edinburgh had told her there were time limits for Employment Tribunal claims, and the Tribunal found it was not reasonable for her to continue delaying once she knew that.

The Tribunal did not accept Covid-19 as a satisfactory explanation for the later delay. Employment Tribunal claims could be presented throughout the pandemic, the claimant was receiving advice from Citizens Advice Edinburgh from March to October 2020, and she gave no satisfactory explanation for taking no action between receiving the appeal outcome in October 2020 and beginning internet research in April 2022. The Tribunal therefore concluded that the claim was not presented within such further period as was reasonable and dismissed it for want of jurisdiction.