The case of Gisda Cyf v Barratt which was recently heard at the Court of Appeal has made an important ruling concerning the effective date of termination when an employee is dismissed by post.

In unfair dismissal claims, the claimant has three months after the termination of their employment to lodge their complaint - claims made after this period will only be heard if there are exceptional circumstances to justify doing so.

In Miss Barratt’s case, there were no such exceptional circumstances. What was at issue was at what point the dismissal actually came into effect.

Gisda Cyf, her employer, had informed Miss Barrett of her summary dismissal for gross misconduct through the post with a recorded delivery letter. The letter had been written and posted on the 29th of November, and was delivered the following day. However, Miss Barratt did not open and read the letter until the 4th of December.

As she lodged her claim on March 2nd, determining when the effective date of termination of her employment had taken place was of crucial relevance to her case - if the termination date was determined to be when the letter was written, when it was posted or even when it was delivered, then Miss Barratt’s case could not be heard as she would have been out of time.

The original tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal had both ruled that the complaint had been made within the prescribed time limit. Gisda appealed these decisions, taking the case to the Court of Appeal.

They lost by a two-to-one majority, and Miss Barratt’s case will now go to a full hearing at an employment tribunal.

The Court of Appeal ruled in accordance with the EAT that: “Where a decision to dismiss is communicated by a letter sent to the employer at home, and the employee has neither gone away deliberately to avoid receiving the letter nor avoided opening and reading it, the effective date of termination is when the letter is read by the employee, not when it arrives in the post.”

Technorati Tags: Date of Termination, Postal Dismissal, Unfair Dismissal