Mr A A Shepherd v Centre Plant Ltd (In Administration): 4107036/2023

EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND)

Case No 4107036/2023

Between

Mr A A ShepherdClaimant

Centre Plant Limited (In Administration)Respondent

Before

Employment Judge P O’Donnell

Date 15 August 2024

JUDGMENT

The judgment of the Employment Tribunal is that the claimant’s application for reconsideration is granted and the Tribunal’s judgment sent to parties on 18 April 2024 is varied at paragraph 7 to amend the date on which the protected period starts to 17 August 2023.

REASONS

[1]The claimant had brought a complaint for protective award on the basis that he had been dismissed as redundant without the necessary consultation as required under s188A of the Trade Union & Labour Relations(Consolidation) Act 1992.

[2]No defence was lodged by the respondent and a judgment was issued to parties on 18 April 2024 under Rule 21 of the Tribunal Rules of Procedure. This judgment upheld the claim and made a protective award in favour of the claimant. Based on the information provided in the claim form regarding the date on which the claimant was dismissed, the judgment stated that the protected period of 90 days over which the respondent had to renumerate the claimant started on 18 August 2023 (that is, the date of dismissal).

[3]The claimant’s representative subsequently contacted the Tribunal to explain that there had been a typographical error in the claim form and that the claimant’s date of dismissal was, in fact, 17 August 2024. The discrepancy in dates meant that the claimant was prevented from recovering the sums owed to him.

[4]They initially applied for a certificate of correction but subsequently made an application for reconsideration. No objection has been made by the respondent or their administrators to this application.

[5]The Tribunal has the power to reconsider a judgment under Rule 70 of the Tribunal Rules of Procedure. The only ground on which the Tribunal can reconsider is that it is in the interests of justice to do so.

[6]The “interests of justice” test gives the Tribunal a broad but not unlimited discretion when reconsidering a decision. The Tribunal has to give regard to the principle of finality in litigation (Newcastle Upon Tyne City Council v Marsden

[2010] ICR 743

) and the power to reconsider is not there to deal with matters which should more properly be a matter of appeal (Trimble v Supertravel Ltd

[1982] IRLR 451

). The Tribunal has to approach the question of whether reconsideration is in the interests of justice by having regard to the justice to be done to both sides of the case (Redding v EMI Leisure Ltd EAT 262/81).

[7]The Tribunal considers that it is in the interests of justice to grant the application. The claimant should not be deprived of the important remedy of a protective award simply due to a typographical error.

[8]This is not a case where the error affects the substantive question of whether the respondent complied with the statutory obligation to consult; the same decision would result regardless of whether the claimant was dismissed on 17 or 18 August 2023.

[9]The Tribunal, therefore, grants the application for reconsideration and varies the judgment sent to the parties on 18 April 2024 to amend the date on which the protected period starts to 17 August 2023.