Claim was regarded as being out-of-time and time could not be extended on the basis of the understanding of the law changing and the claimant’s argument that he was not aware of the news surrounding the PSNI holiday-pay case.

The claimant joined the police service in 1994. The claimant left the police service in August 2007 due to ill-health. The claimant was diagnosed with PTSD in 2012 and in 2013/14 he appealed the level of an injury award made to him.

Following the Agnew case and the press coverage the claimant presented a claim on 4th October 2023. This was a submission for holiday pay outstanding from 1998 to 2007. The issue was whether the claim could continue considering the issue of time limits.

As the claimant’s employment with the respondent ended in August 2007 the time limit would have expired no later than the end of December 2007. This meant that the claim was presented some 16 years out of time. The claimant relied upon a continuing lack of knowledge and the fact that he lived an isolated lifestyle and did not watch live TV or the news due to his diagnosis of PTSD. It was accepted by the Tribunal that the claimant’s ignorance of a potential basis for a claim was the operative reason for the claimant missing the primary time limit.  The Tribunal outlined that the Supreme Court case in Agnew was not groundbreaking but in fact had upheld the position of the Tribunal from 2018 and the Court of Appeal in 2019.  The Tribunal did not accept the argument that the claimant did not want to clog the Tribunal system until the Supreme Court decision was known. As a result, it was held that the claimant could not demonstrate that it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim within the time limit and further that the claimant did not present his claim within a reasonably practicable time even when the claim was submitted.

The Agnew decision continues to have an impact on the Tribunal and some of the outlier cases are having to be examined. This case was some 16 years out of time considering the claimant’s employment came to an end in August 2007. The Tribunal made it clear that a different understanding of the law at a particular time does not automatically mean that the presentation of a claim within the primary time limit was not reasonably practicable. This is something to consider where there are changes to the law that may arise through Tribunal, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court judgments.

NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website.