Unreasonable delay has been examined in the Court of Appeal
in terms of whether or not this creates a failure in the
Statutory Dismissal Procedure.
Previous case law ruled that because the rules stated that
steps should be taken within a reasonable period, any
unreasonable delay on the part of the employer and progressing
matter would result in a Tribunal finding that the procedures
had not been complied with.
The Court of Appeal has now overturned this by ruling that
even where there has been a significant delay it is open to an
employer to remedy things by continuing the procedure.
Therefore, this offers hope to those employers who find
themselves in a situation where they feel it is too late to
comply with the Statutory Procedure. It would appear that it is
never too late and an employer may do a significant amount to
reduce any financial losses by completing part of the Statutory
Procedure
