Mr R Allan v Wickes Building Supplies Limited — 2019

Mr R Allan brought a claim against Wickes Building Supplies Ltd and confirmed at the preliminary hearing on 10 October 2019 that his employment ran from 11 December 2017 to 11 April 2019. He argued that unfairness should be enough for a tribunal claim regardless of length of service. The tribunal explained that it is a statutory tribunal with only the jurisdiction Parliament has given it.

Applying Part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal held that the right not to be unfairly dismissed in s.94(1) does not apply unless the employee has at least two years' continuous employment ending with the effective date of termination, as set out in s.108(1). The claimant did not assert that any of the exceptions in s.108(3) applied. The tribunal therefore found that it had no jurisdiction to hear the unfair dismissal claim and dismissed it.

The tribunal also dealt with the ET1 wording referring to a change in terms and conditions without consultation and a failure to provide a note of change of particulars of employment. It held that, if any claim was intended on that basis, it could not exist as a freestanding claim and was also dismissed. No monetary award was made.