Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions

THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS

 

CASE REF:   246/15

 

 

 

CLAIMANT:                      Mary Sarah McGuigan

 

 

RESPONDENTS:              1.       The Belfast Education & Library Board

                                        2.       Southern Education & Library Board

                                        3.       Western Education & Library Board

                                        4.       North Eastern Education & Library Board

                                        5.       South Eastern Education & Library Board

                                        6.       Our Lady and St Patrick’s College, Belfast

                                        7.       Methodist College

                                        8.       Department of Education

 

DECISION ON A PRE-HEARING REVIEW

The decision of the tribunal is set out at Paragraph 5 below.

 

Constitution of Tribunal:

Employment Judge (sitting alone):      Employment Judge Buchanan

 

Appearances:

The claimant, Miss McGuigan, appeared in person and was not represented.

The first, second, third, fourth and fifth-named respondents were represented by Mr M McEvoy, Barrister-at-Law, instructed by Education & Library Board Solicitors.

Mr A Brett, Solicitor, of Jones Cassidy Brett, Solicitors, submitted a written submission on behalf of the sixth-named respondent.

The seventh-named respondent entered a response to these proceedings, but was not represented at the hearing.

The eighth-named respondent was represented by Mr S Doherty, Barrister-at-Law, instructed by The Departmental Solicitor’s Office.

 

1(i)     The claimant, a teacher who did supply teaching, by a claim form presented to the tribunal on 10 February 2015, brought claims for breach of contract (holiday pay) and unlawful deductions from wages against the above respondents.  It alleged that she had not been paid all the holiday pay to which she was entitled by the above respondents in respect of various dates from 2008 – 2014.

 

(ii)     Her claim on this occasion followed an earlier tribunal claim which she had brought against the Board of Governors of Wellington College and the Belfast Education & Library Board (‘BELB’).  That claim was presented to the tribunal on or around 18 or 19 December 2014.  It was heard between 23 – 25 September 2014 and the decision issued on 11 November 2014.  Some of the claimant’s claims were dismissed by the tribunal and these need not concern us any further, but it was held that she was entitled to pay for holidays accrued but not taken while employed by Wellington College, and an award of the sum of £276.77 was made against the College and BELB.

 

(iii)     Following her partial success in that claim, the claimant initiated the present proceedings.

 

2(i)     The respondents in this case took a time-point in relation to the claimant’s claims and the Vice President of the Tribunals directed that this matter should be listed for a pre-hearing review on the following issue:-

 

“Whether the claims or any part of them have been lodged outside the statutory time-limit and, if so, whether time should be extended?”

 

(ii)     The eighth-named respondent, in its response and at the hearing also contended that it was not properly a party to the proceedings, as it was not the claimant’s employer, or indeed the employer of any teacher.  This point seems to me to be well-founded, but as it was not listed as an issue at the pre-hearing review, I have not specifically dealt with it.  In any event the rest of the decision makes that point academic. 

 

3(i)     Time-limits in cases of breach of contract, unlawful deductions from wages, and the Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 are set out respectively in the Industrial Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction Order (Northern Ireland) 1994 (Article 8), the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (Article 55) and Regulation 30(2) of the 1998 Regulations.

 

 (ii)     These provisions, which are to be strictly applied, lay down that complaints must be presented within three months of the relevant date, though the tribunal does have a discretion to consider a complaint if satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for it to be presented before the end of the relevant period of three months, provided it was presented within such further period as the tribunal considers reasonable.

 

 (iii)     I am satisfied in this case that we are not dealing with a series of deductions.  In any event the claims have been brought against different employers.

 

4        I did not find the evidence of the claimant satisfactory.  She attempted to tailor it to what fitted her needs, and in some respects it was disingenuous.  However, there were two points in her evidence which in my view are fatal to her claims.

 

          Firstly, her (successful) claim for holiday pay against Wellington College and BELB was presented, as indicated, in December 2013.  She gave no good reason why she did not bring claims against the other respondents at that time.

 

          Secondly, at the time she brought her claims against Wellington College and BELB, she had done so after taking legal advice.

 

5        I am satisfied that her present claims are out of time and that there is no material before me which would enable me to exercise my discretion to extend the time for bringing them.

 

          The tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear these claims and I therefore dismiss them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Employment Judge

 

 

Date and place of hearing:         20 April 2015, Belfast

 

 

Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: