EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4105405/2023 (V) Held at Aberdeen on February 2024 Employment Judge N M Hosie Mr Leslie Munro v Represented by, Ms E Matheson, Solicitor Highland Council — 2024

Mr Leslie Munro brought complaints of standard unfair dismissal under s.94 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and automatic unfair dismissal because he had made a protected disclosure under s.103A. The preliminary hearing concerned only whether the ET1 was time-barred. The tribunal found that the claimant was dismissed on 4 May 2023, that ACAS early conciliation ran from 14 July 2023 to 14 August 2023, and that his solicitor attempted to submit the claim online on 14 September 2023 during HMCTS online submission problems before attending the Glasgow Employment Tribunal at 18:25 the same day with the claim in a sealed envelope.

Applying s.111(2) ERA 1996 and the early conciliation extension in s.207B, the tribunal held that the claim was presented in time when the solicitor handed it to the security guard at the tribunal office, even though the envelope was refused. It relied on the authorities it cited, including Consignia, Miah, Hammond and Post Office v Moore, for the proposition that presentation occurs when the claim arrives at the tribunal office and does not require acceptance by tribunal staff.

In the alternative, the tribunal held that if presentation had not occurred on 14 September 2023, there was no proper means of presentation in the particular circumstances because the online system was unavailable and hand delivery was refused; the limitation period could therefore extend to the next working day, when the claim was delivered and accepted on 15 September 2023. The tribunal further recorded that, if necessary, it would have found that it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim earlier and that it had been presented within a reasonable period, so jurisdiction existed and the case was to proceed to a final hearing.