Termination dates

The Supreme Court has handed down its judgment in Gisda Cyf v Barratt [2010] UKSC 41, the latest instalment in the legal uncertainty which has surrounded determination of the effective date of termination (EDT) in employment cases. It has upheld the decision of the majority of the Court of Appeal, but does the final word leave the law sufficiently certain for practitioners, employers and employees?

Section 97(1)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that the EDT is, in a case of termination of employment without notice, the date on which termination takes effect. This somewhat elusive provision is hugely important in employment cases. 

• Most obviously it determines the date on which time starts to run for limitation purposes in unfair dismissal claims and discrimination claims where the act complained of is dismissal or where dismissal is the last event in a course of conduct.
• It is relevant in determining which substantive law applies, such as in recent changes to the law