Extension of time

[Becks989]

Good Afternoon.

I am currently on behalf of my husband going through a employment Tribunal process.

ET1 has been submitted back in Feb. (17th)

ET3 has been submitted by the respondent (17th March) However we currently have not received a copy. I have spoken again to the tribunal office today who have told me it has been received and accepted but nothing will currently be done with it because of lock down and Judges not working.

I then explained that my husband and two of the witnesses for us are currently shielding, so Witness Statements due at the end of the month really are going to be a problem also.

The man at the tribunal office said the best thing to do would to be a application for an extension of time, he said that any judge would grant this with the current climate.

However i don't know how to make this application, he did mention that i would need to send it to the tribunal and the respondent. Which i am happy to do, but i am not sure on what i need to put in it.

Can anyone help me out.

Thanks in advance.

[ULA]

Hi, unfortunately due to the current unprecedented situation we are finding that court/tribunal services are becoming limited and I am not surprised that applications for extension of time are likely t be given more consideration for acceptance.

Is the deadline for the witness statements due at the end of the month as a result of a timescale set in the Case Management Order (CMO)?

The request for an application to consider an extension of time needs to be made to the tribunal and copied to the respondent either directly or to their legal representative if they have one.

There is a form of words that would be useful in the letter you write so I suggest something along the lines of the below:

Tribunal Address
Date of letter

Dear Sir/Madam,

Insert Claimant Name v Insert Respondent Name
Case Number:Insert the case Number
Application for an Extension of Time

I, the Claimant, apply to the Tribunal for consideration to be given for an extension of time for the submission of the witness statements I am wishing to rely on at the Tribunal Hearing. These documents, under the Case Management Order are due to be submitted by xxxxxx.

In this paragraph you then need to state the reason for them not being available in the timescale specified and therefore why you need to request the extension.

In accordance with rules 30(2) and 92 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013, I have sent a copy of this application to the Respondent and hereby notify that any objections to the application for an extension should be sent to the Tribunal, with a copy sent to the me, as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,
Name

This should be done as a letter and attached to an email with the case number in the Subject line and just a quick covering note. The email should be sent to the Tribunal and the respondent.

I hope that helps but if you have any questions then please just come back to this thread.

[Becks989]

Hello Ula.

Thank you so much. this is perfect. I am trying to do the whole process alone but i'm finding it increasingly harder at each point. The case management order date for the statements is 28th April.

I would think that the respondent will put an objection in as their business is still running albeit on short weeks. Will it be the judge that ultimately decides on the extension?

The clerk at the tribunal office said he didn't think that we would even get our tribunal this year with how many had been pushed back which is understandable.

Thank you once again, i will come back to you and let you know the outcome.

[ULA]

Glad the template is going to be useful to you. I appreciate this can be a daunting process if your husband/you are trying to manage an employment tribunal claim.

Yes ultimately it will be for the judge to decide on the extension. If your witnesses are well enough, even if they are shielding, then maybe you could at least start getting them to begin their statement since they each need to do them independently anyway. They could email them to you which would be a possible solution and useful just in case the extension is not granted.

Just come back to this thread anytime you have an update or question. We can help you as much as possible through this process.