ET1 form missed deadline

KatieBW123

My son was fired in March by a nightmare boss who owed him wages and expenses and who had habitually used offensive and discriminatory language. My son took the case to acas as potentially quite a lot of money involved, maybe £10-12k. My son has slow processing and is best described as “ambient”, acas started early conciliation and got nowhere. The employers said they were keen to make an early settlement but have strung this out for months. I have not been involved but have just found out the following: that acas had issued a certificate to go to employment tribunal on the 10th of June but that my son has completely missed this. So the deadline has expired and he has missed the opportunity to get monies owed. I can’t believe it. What I’m asking is…are there any exceptions to this month rule so that my son could still make a late claim? Acas and the employer were communicating throughout the time but my son too inexperienced/gormless to have understood the process. Any thoughts re making a late claim much appreciated!

Undervalued

There are some very limited exceptions but "inexperienced / gormless" are unlikely to be among them!

I think your son either has to drop this or invest some money in a solicitor to see if there are any doors still open. It is a specialised area. Maybe see if an employment law specialist will do either a free initial consultation or, more likely, a reduced fixed fee.

If so, prepare really well for the meeting, with all relevant documents readily available, so as to get the best value for money.

thebrexitunicorn

The only thing I would add to Undervalued’s comment is to get the ET1 lodged immediately.   The claim is just becoming even more out of time, it can be withdrawn if your son decides not to proceed. 

SacredStephan

Your son could claim for unpaid wages in the Small Claims track of the County Court.
There is a deadline of six years to claim.

Undervalued

SacredStephan said:

Your son could claim for unpaid wages in the Small Claims track of the County Court.
There is a deadline of six years to claim.

Indeed, but only for the unpaid wages aspect.

It is not clear from the OP exactly what claim the son felt he had. Although "wages and expenses" are mentioned £10 to £12K seems quite a lot unless he was very well paid or feels he is due PILON (payment in lieu of notice). The entitlement (or otherwise) to that, if in dispute, would have been a employment tribunal matter and probably not arguable in the county court.

As I said earlier, he needs to see a solicitor to assess whether he has a realistic case.