Mr Frank Hurles v Represented by: Mr T Thomson Malatite Limited — 2018

Mr Hurles worked for Malatite Limited from 30 January 2017 to 26 May 2017 as a sign erector. The tribunal found that his contract offered £12 per hour, did not mention overtime, and that he worked additional hours in March, April and May 2017 at the request of his managers. It accepted that his then manager, Mr Healy, told him overtime would be paid at time and a half, and that Mr Russo later authorised the hours and said they would be paid, but the Respondent's finance director declined to pay because he was not satisfied the hours had been proved by timesheets or express authorisation.

The claim for unlawful deduction of wages was presented on 23 November 2017. The tribunal found that it was not reasonably practicable for Mr Hurles to have lodged the claim within the original statutory time limit because he did not know there was a tribunal time limit, had contacted ACAS, and had not been told by ACAS of any deadline for presenting the claim. However, it also found that there was no explanation for the period between the early conciliation certificate issued on 27 October 2017 and the tribunal claim, and that waiting until 23 November 2017 was not a reasonable further period.

Because the claim was not presented within a reasonable further period, the tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction and dismissed the claim. In the alternative, it said the claim for unlawful deduction of wages would have succeeded on the merits: the hours claimed were accepted as worked, the Respondent had not challenged them at the relevant time, and the tribunal preferred the evidence that overtime was to be paid at time and a half. If jurisdiction had existed, the tribunal would have declared an unlawful deduction of £3,312, calculated as 184 hours at £18 per hour, and would also have applied a two-week-pay uplift of £960 because the Respondent had admittedly failed to issue an initial statement of employment particulars.