The Respondent employers had not attended a hearing before the Industrial Tribunal. The hearing went ahead. The Respondents applied for a review of the decision (that the employee had been unfairly dismissed and should be compensated) on the ground that they had not received notice of the proceedings leading to the decision. The Tribunal, having heard evidence, concluded with regard to Section 7 of the 1978 Act that the employers had not displaced the presumption that notice of the hearing before the Industrial Tribunal had duly been served on them.
Held: Popplewell, J rejected a submission that the section 7 had no application. He concluded: ‘We are all of the view that Section 7 does apply because Section 7 is not dealing merely with the question of the sending of a document, but also with the receipt. Although the word ‘receipt’ is not used and the word is ‘serve’ or ‘give’ or ‘send’, the phrase ‘the service is deemed to be effective’ and ‘the service is deemed . . to have been effective’ are words which indicate that the receipt of the document is inevitably bound up with the sending of it.’
Judges:
Popplewell J
Citations:
[1987] ICR 696
Statutes:
Employment
Updated: 11 May 2022; Ref: scu.469538
