Rebecca Rayner v St Vincent de Paul Society (England and Wales) Heard: in public by Cloud Video Platform — 2026

Rebecca Rayner brought a complaint of automatic unfair dismissal for whistleblowing under section 103A of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Her employment ended on 12 November 2024. She contacted ACAS on 29 January 2025, received the Early Conciliation Certificate on 12 March 2025, and presented her claim on 28 April 2025.

Applying the early conciliation extension in section 207B of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Tribunal found that the deadline for presenting the claim was 12 April 2025. The claim was therefore presented 16 days late. The Tribunal found on balance that ACAS had not told the claimant that the deadline was 22 April 2025 and that she had instead taken that date from the record of the earlier preliminary hearing.

The Tribunal accepted that the claimant had experienced a difficult and stressful period while caring for her mother, who had advanced dementia. It nevertheless found that presenting the claim by 12 April 2025 had been reasonably practicable. In reaching that conclusion, the Tribunal considered that the claimant knew of the time limit, had commenced early conciliation in time, had previous experience of Employment Tribunal proceedings, and had been able during the relevant period to arrange residential care for her mother, obtain new employment, attend meetings, clear her mother's house, and prepare for her new role.

The claimant had not proved that presenting the claim in time was not reasonably practicable. The Tribunal also found that the claim had not been presented within a reasonable further period because, after realising on 25 April 2025 that she was late, the claimant waited three more days without providing a valid reason for that delay. The claim was dismissed as out of time for lack of jurisdiction; its merits and prospects of success were not considered, and no remedy was awarded.