A Jamie HR manager's guide

The manager's guide to the new tribunal time limits

A practical guide for managers and small businesses on the employment tribunal time limit extending from three to six months: the current position, what changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the commencement date, and how to prepare.
3 to 6 months
From 1 October 2026
Longer record retention

From 1 October 2026, employees will have twice as long to bring most employment tribunal claims.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 extends the standard employment tribunal time limit from three months to six months for most types of claim, including unfair dismissal, discrimination and unlawful deductions from wages. This guide sets out the current position, what changes, exactly when it takes effect, and the practical steps to take to prepare, including record retention, handling older grievances, and reviewing your own escalation timelines.

What's inside
The current time limit: 3 months less one day3
How ACAS Early Conciliation can pause the clock4
What's changing: 3 months becomes 65
The commencement date: 1 October 20266
Why this matters for your business7
Record retention: keep evidence for longer8
Reviewing old grievances and disputes9
Reviewing internal escalation timelines10
Getting ready for the new time limit11
How Jamie HR helps12

The current time limit: 3 months less one day

Most employment tribunal claims must be brought quickly after the issue they relate to.
  • For most tribunal claims, including unfair dismissal, discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 and unlawful deductions from wages, the standard time limit is 3 months less one day from the relevant date or act complained of.
  • gov.uk describes this in practical terms as 3 months of employment ending or the problem happening.
  • A small number of claims already carry a longer time limit of 6 months less one day, including statutory redundancy pay, equal pay, and certain trade union and strike-related dismissal claims.
  • If the time limit has passed, a tribunal can still choose to accept a late claim, but in most cases the time limit is strictly enforced.
Manager tip
Note the date of the incident, not just the date a complaint is raised with you, since that date is what starts the clock for a tribunal claim.

How ACAS Early Conciliation can pause the clock

Before most tribunal claims can be lodged, the prospective claimant must contact ACAS.
  • Almost all tribunal claims require the claimant to notify ACAS and go through Early Conciliation before a claim can be lodged with the tribunal.
  • Once ACAS is notified, the time limit is paused until early conciliation ends, extending the deadline the claimant would otherwise face.
  • Early conciliation can run for up to 12 weeks. This is longer than it used to be: the standard period increased from 6 weeks to 12 weeks from 1 December 2025.
  • Where ACAS was notified within the original time limit, the claimant gets at least one month from the date they receive the early conciliation certificate to lodge a tribunal claim.
  • It remains the claimant's own responsibility to make sure the claim reaches the tribunal in time, even once conciliation has ended.
Manager tip
Early conciliation already means a claim can arrive well after the underlying incident, even under the current 3-month rule. Do not assume an issue has timed out just because 3 months have passed.

What's changing: 3 months becomes 6

The Employment Rights Act 2025 extends the standard tribunal time limit for most claim types.
  • For most claims that currently carry the 3-month time limit, including unfair dismissal, discrimination and unlawful deductions from wages, the limit is extending to 6 months less one day.
  • The government's own impact assessment for the change describes it as applying to around 148 separate statutory employment rights that currently carry the shorter time limit.
  • Claims that already carry a 6-month time limit, such as statutory redundancy pay and equal pay, are not affected by this change; they stay at 6 months.
  • The government's impact assessment states the change is intended to simplify the tribunal system and improve access to justice, including in cases such as harassment and pregnancy or maternity discrimination, where it says a 3-month deadline can be a significant barrier.
  • The mechanics of ACAS Early Conciliation, including the pause on the clock described above, are not changing as part of this reform.

The commencement date: 1 October 2026

The extended time limit does not apply retrospectively to every past incident.
  • The extension to 6 months takes effect from 1 October 2026, under commencement regulations debated in Parliament in June 2026.
  • It applies only where the relevant workplace issue, dismissal or act complained of arises on or after 1 October 2026.
  • An issue that arose before 1 October 2026 keeps the existing 3-month time limit, even if a claim about it is lodged after that date.
  • A claim reaching you after October 2026 does not automatically carry the longer time limit; the date of the underlying issue is what determines which limit applies.
Watch out
Treat 1 October 2026 as the date that determines which time limit applies to a given issue, not a date after which every case gets longer to run. Take advice if you are unsure which limit applies to a specific matter.

Why this matters for your business

A longer time limit changes what your business needs to be ready to answer for.
  • Once the change applies, an employee will have up to 6 months, rather than 3, to bring a claim about an issue that occurred on or after 1 October 2026.
  • Adding early conciliation on top of the 6-month limit means a claim can reach a tribunal significantly later than under the current rules.
  • For issues arising on or after 1 October 2026, do not treat 3 months as the point at which the risk of a claim has passed.
  • Keep a written record of relevant conversations, decisions and warnings at the time they happen, rather than relying on memory if a claim is lodged months later.
Manager tip
Set a reminder to review any active or recently closed grievance, disciplinary or dismissal case against the new 6-month window once it applies, not just the old 3-month one.

Record retention: keep evidence for longer

Extending the time limit extends how long a workplace decision might need to be defended.
  • Review how long your business keeps records connected to disciplinary action, grievances, performance management and dismissal, so retention covers at least the 6-month tribunal time limit plus any early conciliation period, for issues from 1 October 2026 onwards.
  • Keep the underlying evidence for a decision, not only the outcome. For example, keep investigation notes and performance review records, not just the letter confirming the result.
  • Store records securely and limit access to those who need them, in line with your data protection obligations.
  • Apply the same retention approach consistently across your business, rather than only for cases that already look likely to be disputed.
Manager tip
Agree a specific retention period for HR case records with whoever manages your data protection compliance, rather than treating retention as an afterthought.

Reviewing old grievances and disputes

Existing and recently closed cases are also worth revisiting under the new time limit.
  • Identify grievances, disciplinary cases and dismissals from the run-up to 1 October 2026, since issues from that date onwards can remain live for longer.
  • Check whether a closed case was properly documented, including the outcome, the reasons given and any right of appeal offered.
  • Where a process was not followed correctly, take advice before treating the matter as closed.
  • Keep any outstanding appeal or grievance response on track, since delay on your part does not reduce an employee's own time limit to claim.
Manager tip
When you close out a grievance or disciplinary case, file the outcome letter together with the supporting notes in one place, so nothing is missing if a claim is lodged later.

Reviewing internal escalation timelines

A longer tribunal time limit is a reason to look again at how quickly issues move through your own process.
  • Review how long your grievance and disciplinary procedures take from an issue being raised to a final outcome, and address any unnecessary delay.
  • Set target timescales for each stage of your process, such as acknowledging a grievance, holding a meeting and confirming an outcome, and monitor whether they are met.
  • Make sure managers know how to escalate a concern promptly, rather than letting an informal issue run on without a decision.
  • Follow the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. Tribunals can adjust compensation by up to 25% for an unreasonable failure to comply with it.
Watch out
An unreasonable failure to follow the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures can increase a tribunal award against your business by up to 25%, on top of any other liability.

Getting ready for the new time limit

A summary of the essentials covered in this guide:
  • Most tribunal claims currently carry a 3 months less one day time limit; this extends to 6 months less one day for issues arising on or after 1 October 2026.
  • ACAS Early Conciliation pauses the clock once notified, and can itself run for up to 12 weeks; this mechanism is not changing as part of the October 2026 reform.
  • Claims that already carry a 6-month limit, such as redundancy pay and equal pay, are unaffected.
  • Review record retention for HR case files so it covers the extended window, and keep the evidence, not only the outcome.
  • Revisit grievances, disciplinary cases and dismissals from the run-up to the change, and confirm they were properly documented.
  • Review escalation timelines and follow the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.

How Jamie HR helps

A longer tribunal time limit means a longer window in which a decision might need to be defended. Jamie HR keeps the record straight.
  • Case records that log grievances, disciplinary action and dismissals with dates, notes and outcomes in one place.
  • Document storage that keeps investigation notes, warnings and outcome letters together and secure.
  • Policy library so your disciplinary and grievance procedures are easy for managers to find and follow.
  • Timestamped records of key actions, so you can show what happened and when if a claim is brought later.
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This guide is general information, accurate to the best of our knowledge as of 2026, and is not legal advice. Employment law changes and every situation is different, so for a specific case take professional HR or legal advice. Sources: ACAS, gov.uk and the Employment Rights Act 2025.