EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS
Claim in time and effective date of termination
Extension of time: reasonably practicable
ET claims of unfair dismissal and for unlawful deductions presented one day out of time; whether the ET had erred in holding it had been reasonably practicable for the claims to have been presented in time and thus that it had no jurisdiction to determine them.
Held:
Dismissing the appeal. The ET had concluded that the Claimant had lodged her claims one day out of time because of her mistaken belief as to when the time limit expired. It did not find that belief had been reasonably held. That was a permissible view on the evidence before the ET.
As for whether the ET ought properly to have taken account of the conclusion of a different ET on a different claim by the Claimant against the Respondent, that argument was not tenable: (1) at the time the ET made its ruling in the present claims, the other ET’s decision had not been made, still less sent it to the parties; and, in any event, (2) the two ETs were answering different questions.
Moreover, the fact that the Respondent had not raised the time limit point earlier did not mean that the ET was not bound to consider it. This was a jurisdictional point and could be taken at any time.
Generally, the ET adopted the correct approach and reached a conclusion entirely open to it on the evidence and findings of fact.
Eady QC HHJ
[2015] UKEAT 0132 – 14 – 2906
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 01 January 2022; Ref: scu.549572