The claimant gave evidence on her own account. It was agreed that the claimant’s effective date of termination was 18 May 2018 and the claim was presented out of time.
The claimant was absent from work through ill health from 20 February 2018. Around April 2018 she became aware that her employment might be terminated. She ascertained the opening hours of her local citizen advice bureau (CAB) from the CAB website. The claimant visited the CAB on 9 and 18 April 2018 to discuss the potential termination of her employment.
On 18 May 2018 the claimant’s employment was employment was terminated and she was advised of her right of appeal. The claimant attended the CAB on 29 May 2018 and 4 June 2018 to discuss the termination of her employment. The claimant appealed against her dismissal on 4 June 2018.
After some communication back and forth between the claimant and respondent, the claimant presented the claim form to the Tribunal’s office on 1 November 2018.
Section 111 of the ERA provides that a complaint of unfair dismissal may be presented to a Tribunal against an employer. However, a Tribunal shall not consider a complaint unless it is presented to the Tribunal
a. before the end of the period of three months beginning with the effective date of termination; or
b. be within such period as the Tribunal considers reasonable in a case where it is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be presented before the end of that period of three months.
It was the judgment of the Tribunal that in all the circumstances, the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to deal with the claimant’s claim and it was not appropriate to grant the claimant’s application to extend the time limit for accepting her claim as it was not reasonably practicable for her to have presented her claim in time.
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