Ms G Cassels v Envirosan Limited — 2025

The tribunal heard a preliminary issue on whether Ms G Cassels's unlawful deduction from wages claim was in time. It found that her arrangement with Envirosan Limited was informal and ad hoc, created without written documentation, and was used to make payments of about £975 per month from November 2019 to February 2022. The tribunal found that the claimant did some limited consultancy-type activity, but that she did not have clear duties or hours, did not work with the respondent's general manager, and that the arrangement was tied to a family and tax-driven set-up rather than a normal employment or worker relationship.

The tribunal found that payments and work stopped by March 2022 and that no further work was offered. It accepted Mr Logan's evidence that he did not consider the claimant to have been a worker or employee and that the claimant had not been providing services to the business in the way she alleged. The tribunal found that, viewed objectively, any contractual relationship had ended by March 2022 when the payments ceased and no work was offered, even though no P45 or dismissal letter had been issued.

On time bar, the tribunal found that the claimant knew she had a three-month tribunal time limit and understood the need to act when the payments stopped. It noted that she contacted ACAS only in February 2024 and presented her ET1 on 9 December 2024, about 2 years and 9 months after the relationship had ended. The tribunal accepted that family and health issues affected her decision not to proceed earlier, but held that this did not make it not reasonably practicable to bring the claim in time. The claim was therefore dismissed.