During the course of case management of a claim for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, the ET considered applications to amend the claim to pursue claims for (a) unpaid annual leave under the WTR 1998; (b) unlawful deduction from wages and (c) breach of contract. The ET allowed the amendment in respect of the annual leave claim, subject to the Respondent’s right to argue the claim was out of time at the final hearing. The Claimant appealed on the basis that the claim was extant in the claim form, and the EJ had erred in departing from an earlier case management decision, the effect of which was that the claim was extant and in time. The Claimant appealed.

The EAT dismissed the appeal on all grounds. Regarding the annual leave claim, although the claim form made reference to the Working Time Regulations 1998 there was no reference to an annual leave claim; the only facts which could have supported a claim under the Regulations was a complaint of breach of the Claimant’s entitlement to daily rest. The ET was entitled to treat the matter as requiring amendment: there was no extant claim for annual leave. Regarding the other 2 grounds, the ET had identified the correct legal principles, summarised the facts, evaluated those facts and reached conclusions on balance having consideration to all the factors it addressed. The reasoning was clear and the decision in no way perverse.