Mr T Pattison v Represented by Ms E McCummiskey - Lay Representative Hillhouse Quarry Group Limited — 2022

This was a preliminary hearing to determine jurisdiction and time limits in a claim for unfair dismissal and unauthorised deductions from wages. The tribunal found that the claimant’s employment ended on 19 February 2022 and that early conciliation ran from 3 May to 13 June 2022. On that basis, the primary limitation period, as extended by early conciliation, expired on 13 July 2022. The ET1 was lodged on 1 August 2022, which was 19 days late.

The claimant relied on ignorance of the time limits. The tribunal accepted that the claimant and his partner/representative had seen ACAS guidance stating that there was 'at least 1 month' after the certificate to present a claim, but found that neither of them made further enquiries about the deadline in the claimant’s particular circumstances. The tribunal held that, because the claimant knew of the right to bring claims and knew there were time limits, he was under an obligation to seek information about how to enforce that right. Applying the authorities cited, the tribunal concluded that he had not shown that it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim in time.

The tribunal therefore held that it was reasonably practicable to lodge the claim within the primary time limit and that it did not need to consider whether the claim was presented within a further reasonable period. It concluded that it had no jurisdiction to consider either complaint, and both the unfair dismissal and unlawful deduction from wages claims were dismissed as presented out of time.