The Effective Date Of Termination is relevant in unfair dismissal claims as the Employment Tribunal has to receive the Claim Form within 3 months of the EDT.
Where an employee has their employment terminated by letter, the "effective date of termination" (EDT) is the date that the Claimant has a reasonable opportunity to read the dismissal letter.
In the recent case of Robinson v Fairhill Medical Practice, the Claimant's solicitor received an email from the Respondent employer on 06 July 2011 stating that the Claimant's employment was terminated on that day.
The solicitor informed the Claimant on 07 July 2011 but the Claimant did not receive and read the letter from the employer until 08 July 2011. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decided that 07 July 2011 was the "effective date of termination" (EDT).
The reason the EDT is relevant is that Claimants have to bring an unfair dismissal claim in the Employment Tribunal within 3 months of the EDT. As the claim form was received by the Tribunal on 08 October 2011 instead of 06 October, the unfair dismissal claim was rejected.
The EAT did however allow the Claimant to continue with her claim for disability discrimination on the basis that it was "just and equitable" for her to do so.
