Unfair dismissal: extension of time

Harmajinder Hayre examines a case which looked at the issue of time limits on Tribunal claims.

In the case of the Governing Body of Sheredes School v Davies [2016] the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) allowed the appeal setting aside the earlier ET decision that time should be extended to allow a claim for unfair dismissal. 

The claimant was dismissed from his employment and instructed a firm of solicitors to represent him for his claim of unfair dismissal. The deadline for him lodging his claim was 25 October 2015. During the 3-month limitation period the solicitors advised him to seek another firm but did not advise him that time was running out for him to make a claim. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) shut down this firm of solicitors shortly afterwards and they were instructed not to contact any clients after this point. 

By the time the claimant managed to secure another firm of solicitors and lodged his claim, he was out of time. The ET agreed to extend the time stating that the claimant was ignorant of the need to present a claim by 25 October 2015, and that the claimant had entrusted the matters to a firm of solicitors who had been prevented from advising him that time was running out due to intervention from the SRA. That intervention was a 'special reason' and it was not reasonably practical for the claim to be presented in time. 

The EAT allowed the appeal against this decision as they believed that the ET had failed to consider (as invited by the respondent) whether the solicitors themselves should have advised the claimant of the urgency to present the claim on 8 October 2015 when they advised the claimant to seek alternative representation. 

Whilst the EAT sympathised with the claimant as the solicitor should have advised him of the time limit and failed to do this, his only way forward was to make a claim against the firm directly.

Comment

• This case is certainly a huge reminder to all legal firms to be mindful of keeping their clients aware when offering advice the timeframes for making a claim.
• This was even more important in this case due to the limited time the client had remaining to pursue a claim.

Harmajinder Hayre is a Partner and Head of the Employment Team at the Leeds office of Ward Hadaway. He can be contacted on 0113 205 6712 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..