The standard position is that driving a vehicle without a valid MOT certificate is prohibited under article 61 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. However, with the current debacle surrounding cancelled MOT tests in Northern Ireland, the Department for Infrastructure has introduced a 4-month exemption certificate for cars over four years old while the issues at test centres are resolved. This should also enable the vehicle to be taxed until May 2020 and label the vehicle roadworthy.

Despite the above efforts to prevent drivers being stuck without a valid MOT, there is a difficulty if the vehicle is four years old and has never been through an MOT as the four month exemption certificate fails to apply because there is no previous certificate to extend. The Department for Infrastructure stated that these vehicles will be prioritised and processed as soon as possible via the limited lanes which are currently in safe working order.

If (a) you have a four year old car and (b) in the interim the MOT certificate goes out of date, the car will not be deemed roadworthy and so to compel an employee to drive the vehicle would be illegal. Therefore, if you dismissed an employee on these grounds, there is a high risk that an employee could bring successful claims for unfair dismissal and/or breach of contract.