Outcome
Individual claims
All claims against R2 (Booker Ltd) were struck out because the claimant failed to comply with Section 18A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 by not providing a valid early conciliation certificate dated before the claim form was presented on 19 November 2023. The tribunal found no reasonable prospect of the claimant demonstrating compliance with EC obligations for R2.
Facts
The claimant brought claims against two respondents: AFE Recruitment Ltd (R1) and Booker Ltd t/a Best Food Logistics (R2). The claimant stated an ACAS early conciliation certificate number for R2 on the claim form presented 19 November 2023, but neither tribunal staff nor R2 could trace a certificate with that number. At a preliminary hearing in June 2024, the claimant was ordered to provide a copy of the certificate but failed to do so, instead providing a certificate dated 12 September 2024, which postdated the claim form.
Decision
The tribunal struck out all claims against R2 under Rule 37(1)(a) because there was no reasonable prospect of the claimant demonstrating compliance with the mandatory ACAS early conciliation requirements under Section 18A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996. The tribunal found it had no power to waive this statutory jurisdictional requirement. The claims against R1 were not struck out and the final hearing remained listed for March 2025.
Practical note
Tribunals have no power to waive the statutory requirement for a valid ACAS early conciliation certificate dated before the claim form presentation—failure to comply is a jurisdictional bar that cannot be remedied by procedural discretion under the tribunal rules.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 3313302/2023
- Decision date
- 9 June 2025
- Hearing type
- preliminary
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- professional services
- Represented
- No
Claimant representation
- Represented
- No