From 1 October 2026, employment tribunal time limits (i.e. the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims) increased from three to six months (less a day).
This is one of the most significant changes to UK employment law in recent years. It affects employees considering an Employment Tribunal claim, employers managing workplace disputes and individuals who have received a settlement agreement.
The new rules are designed to give parties more time to seek legal advice, engage in workplace procedures and explore settlement before formal Tribunal proceedings become necessary.
What has changed?
The reform represents a significant change to Employment Tribunal time limits and is likely to affect how workplace disputes are managed and resolved.
The extension to six months will be particularly relevant for employees considering:
- Unfair dismissal
- Discrimination
- Harassment
- Victimisation
- Unlawful deductions from wages
- Holiday pay claims
- Working Time Regulations claims
- TUPE claims
- National Minimum Wage claims
Individuals who believe their employment rights have been breached now have longer to seek legal advice and decide whether to bring a claim.
The change to Employment Tribunal time limits brings many Employment Tribunal claims into line with existing six-month time limits for statutory redundancy pay and equal pay claims.
ACAS Early Conciliation still applies
The Employment Tribunal time limits extension does not remove the requirement to notify ACAS before issuing most Tribunal claims. Employees must still engage in the Early Conciliation process before starting proceedings.
Importantly, the time-limit clock is paused during Early Conciliation, meaning the practical deadline for bringing a claim can easily extend beyond six months. A person might resign constructively in January, notice might expire on March 1, the time-limit becomes August 31. If they lodge their Early Conciliation on that day, it could take Acas the whole of September to appoint a conciliator and they might not issue a certificate until the end of November.
What do the new Employment Tribunal time limits mean for employees?
For employees, the previous three-month deadline often felt too short. Individuals facing dismissal, discrimination or other workplace issues often had limited time to seek advice and fully understand their legal position.
The new six-month time-frame provides more opportunity to:
- Get specialist employment law advice;
- Gather evidence and witness statements;
- Pursue internal grievances or appeals;
- Explore settlement discussions;
- Assess the value and merits of potential Employment Tribunal claims; and
- Make informed decisions about next steps.
However, employees should not assume there is an advantage in waiting. Early legal advice can help preserve evidence, strengthen a claim and improve the prospects of achieving a good outcome through negotiation or settlement.
What does this mean for employers?
Workplace disputes may now remain “live” for a lot longer. They may face a claim many months after a dismissal, grievance or disciplinary process has concluded. Witnesses’ memories may have faded and documents may go missing.
As a result, employers should review:
- Record retention policies;
- Disciplinary and grievance procedures;
- Investigation processes;
- Witness evidence management;
- Document preservation practices;
- Settlement strategies; and
- Management training.
Robust record-keeping and well-documented decision-making will become more important when defending Employment Tribunal claims months after the relevant events took place.
A word of warning for claimants
Claims arising after 1 October 2026 will have the new, longer time-limit. That means if the resignation, dismissal or discrimination happened after 30 September 2026, the longer time-limit applies. This is regardless of when Early Conciliation started.
For a few months, there will be difficult cases where a period of discrimination in Summer 2026, followed by a resignation or dismissal after September leads to claims with different time-limits. Employees would be well-advised to assume that the time-limit stays at 3 months until 2027.
Image used under CC courtesy of Dafne Cholet