In a recent case, the EAT clarified the rules relating to Early Conciliation (EC) certificate numbers for multiple claimants when the EC certificate numbers for all claimants did not appear on the claim form.
In 2015, multiple employees from Sainsburys brought a joint claim for equal pay. Despite all claimants having complied with the requirement for EC, the Employment Tribunal rejected claims by those claimants whose EC numbers did not appear on the claim form. The claimants appealed to the EAT and the EAT allowed the appeal.
The EAT held that the Employment Tribunal had erred when it had rejected the claimants’ claims and confirmed that it was sufficient that an EC certificate number for one of the prospective claimants was provided on the multiple claim form. The EAT subsequently reinstated the rejected claims.
