Mr S Hargreaves v No appearance and No representation Valve Components Ltd (in Administration) — 2025

This was a preliminary hearing before Employment Judge L Doherty in Glasgow on 12 September 2025. Mr S Hargreaves did not attend, and there was no explanation for his absence. The clerk telephoned and emailed him without response, and the tribunal proceeded in his absence on the material in the ET1. The respondent, Valve Components Limited (in Administration), had consented to the continuation of the proceedings by letter dated 27 February 2025.

The issue was whether the tribunal could consider the claimant’s complaint under section 189 of TULCRA. The ET1 was presented on 6 May 2025 and stated that the claimant had been dismissed on 15 March 2024. The tribunal noted that the ET1 contained no information about the date of the last dismissal to which the complaint related, other than the dismissal date stated by the claimant. It applied section 189(5) of TULCRA and held that the claim was, on its face, time-barred.

The tribunal said the onus was on the claimant to show that it was not reasonably practicable to present the complaint within the three-month period and that it was presented within a reasonable further period. There was no evidence before the tribunal to enable it to exercise its discretion under section 189(5). It therefore held that it did not have jurisdiction to consider the claim, and the practical effect was that the claim came to an end.