ETZ 4(WR) IN THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) AT EDINBURGH Judgment of the Employment Tribunal in Case No: 4120981/2018 Issued Following Open Preliminary Hearing Held at Edinburgh on th April 2019 Employment Judge: J G d’Inverno, QVRM, TD, VR, WS (Sitting Alone) Mr A Morana v DBM Building Contractors Limited — 2019

The tribunal held at an open preliminary hearing that Mr Morana’s unfair dismissal complaint could not proceed because he lacked the qualifying service required by section 108(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The claimant started work for DBM Building Contractors Limited on 16 May 2018, had no earlier employment with the respondent, and was summarily dismissed on 10 August 2018. The tribunal found that his continuous service at the effective date of termination was 12 weeks and 2 days.

The claimant accepted those dates, but argued that his three-month trial period had expired and that he was entitled to one month’s notice under his contract. He also disputed the allegation that he was under the influence of alcohol and said no alcohol test had been carried out. The tribunal recorded those points, but they did not alter the jurisdictional question before it.

Applying sections 94 and 108(1) of the 1996 Act, the tribunal concluded that the statutory right not to be unfairly dismissed was not available to the claimant because he had less than two years’ continuous employment. It also noted that nothing in the facts before it brought the case within any exception to the qualifying period, including automatic unfair dismissal. The unfair dismissal complaint was therefore dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

The tribunal left the claimant’s breach of contract complaints, including alleged unpaid wages, contractual notice pay and expenses, to be determined at a one-day final hearing listed for 20 June 2019 at Edinburgh.