| Northamptonshire County Council v Entwhistle |
Background/factsAs most of you involved in Human Resources are aware there is (subject to a number of exceptions) a 3 month limitation period for bringing an Unfair Dismissal claim. Normally if an employee misses that 3 month deadline for bringing a claim (which runs from the effective date of termination (EDT) of the employment contract) they have to prove to the Tribunal that it was “not reasonably practical” to have submitted the claim within the 3 month time period. In the above case the employer had mistakenly advised the employee that the timing for bringing the claim ran from date of rejection of their appeal. This is wrong as the EDT runs from the dismissal or from the end of the notice period if that dismissal is with notice. The employee had, however, consulted a Solicitor and as the Solicitor should have known the limitation dates, the Solicitor should have advised accordingly and despite the mistake and the misrepresentation by the employer, the Employment Tribunal therefore found that the Claimant was out of time.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that unless the legal advisor was misled as to the correct limitation date by inaccurate information provided by the employer (which was not the case here) then the employee’s only remedy was to claim damages in negligence against his Solicitor. CommentWe at MILS frequently defend Employment Tribunal claims on the basis of jurisdiction and indeed in the last month we have just had a case struck out for our client on the same grounds. The case is good for employers and the further clarification of the law, and the strict nature of limitation, on a Claimant’s right to issue Tribunal proceedings. |