Jason Elliott was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2013 and is the Associate Head of School of Law at Ulster University. As a practising barrister, he has developed a largely civil practice representing individuals, companies and public bodies in litigation. This covers a wide range of areas including personal injuries, wills and employment law. In terms of employment law, he has represented both applicants and respondents in the Industrial Tribunal. At Ulster University, Jason lectures extensively on the civil areas of practise such as Equity and Trusts and delivers employment law lectures for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Time was not extended for a claimant who stated they were confused between the role of the LRA and the Tribunal in the process for lodging a claim.
The claimant was employed by the respondent from March 2021 until his dismissal in November 2023. The application for early conciliation was received by the LRA in December 2023 with the certificate issued on 16th January 2024. The claim form was not lodged until 9th April 2024. It fell to the Tribunal to determine whether there could be an extension of time to allow the unfair dismissal claim to continue.
The claimant submitted that he was aware there was a time limit but thought he had already lodged his claim. He cited confusion between the role of the LRA and the Tribunal and noted difficulties in terms of using computers, technology and the fact he was going through a divorce at the relevant time. The reasons cited, however, remained when the claimant did eventually lodge his claim in April 2024. The Tribunal found that the claimant was able to contact the LRA and had family members who could assist him through the process. Bearing that in mind that ignorance or mistake is not a reasonable excuse on the basis that the claimant did not make reasonable enquiries in good time. As a result, and in following the Wall’s Meat case, mistake on the part of the claimant is not considered reasonable if it arises from their fault. This includes not making inquiries with the likes of pro bono charities, Citizen’s Advice or the LRA. Accordingly, the claim was dismissed.
The application of the time limits and difficulties encountered by claimants is something the Tribunal must regularly deal with. The issue raised was alleged confusion between the role of the LRA and the Tribunal in the process. However, the Tribunal has demonstrated that this is insufficient as in asking whether it is reasonable to allow time to be extended the claimant should take reasonable steps which includes making reasonable inquiries. This was not done in this case.
NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website:
https://www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk/
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