Claimant v Grove Retail Ltd T/a Shell Bawbee — 2021

Farhan Munawar was employed by Grove Retail Ltd t/a Shell Bawbee as a cashier from 4 May 2020 until 6 August 2020. He presented his claim on 15 April 2021 after ACAS early conciliation had run from 11 September 2020 to 11 October 2020. The tribunal identified that complaints about matters before 17 December 2020 were potentially out of time and that, under Porter v Bandridge Ltd, the burden was on the claimant to show that it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim within the statutory time limit.

The tribunal also dealt with the hearing under Rule 47 of the 2013 Rules when the claimant did not rejoin the CVP hearing after the start. The clerk made enquiries by telephone, the respondent manager later attended and gave evidence, and the tribunal proceeded in the claimant's absence after considering the available information.

On the merits of jurisdiction and time limits, the tribunal held that the breach of contract claim for arrears of pay was not brought within three months of termination and so could not be considered under Article 3 of the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (Scotland) Order 1994. It also held that the claimant had not established that it was not reasonably practicable to present the unlawful deduction of wages claim in time under the ERA 1996 time limits. The claims for arrears of pay and other payments were therefore dismissed and no monetary award was made.