EDT is “the effective date of termination of employment”. So why is it so important? ………….because it can determine whether someone has the right to bring a claim for unfair dismissal and the time limit within which the Claim must be brought. For an unfair dismissal claim, usually an employee should have been employed for a full year. The qualifying period of employment is calculated by the EDT and an employee can only bring an unfair dismissal claim within 3 months of it. So the EDT is important. The Court of Appeal has recently ruled on a case, in which the EDT was paramount to the claimant’s success. The claimant attended a disciplinary hearing on a Tuesday. She was told to go home and await a letter informing her of the outcome of the disciplinary hearing. A dismissal letter was posted (by recorded delivery) and arrived at the Claimant’s home on Thursday. But, the Claimant had gone away for a few days. She returned home on the Sunday night and opened the letter on the Monday morning.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the EDT is the date the dismissal is communicated. As the Claimant could not read the letter until the Monday, that was the date of her EDT. So, the Claimant’s unfair dismissal claim was valid, as the EDT was the date the letter was opened, not the date it was posted or delivered.
Written by our HR consultant Simone Greasley