Tribunal Time limits increased
From 1 October, employees will be afforded more time to make a claim to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal and breaches of contract claims, such as unlawful deductions in accordance with working time and TUPE are some of the claims that are covered by the increased time limit.
Effective from this date s.152 and Schedule 12 of the Employment Rights Act 2025, amend the regulations to increase the time limits for the aforementioned issues from three to six months for claims that occur on or after 1 October 2026, which now align to the time periods currently in place for dismissals connected to:
- statutory redundancy pay claims
- equal pay claims
- certain claims made against a trade union
- certain claims if you’re a member of the armed forces
ACAS provides the following guidance on timelines for claim periods:
If your problem happened before 1 October 2026
You have either:
- 3 months minus 1 day – for most claims
- 6 months minus 1 day – for a few claims
If your problem happened on or after 1 October 2026
You have 6 months minus 1 day for most claims.
For example, you were paid the wrong amount on 1 October 2026. To work out your time limit, add on 6 calendar months then take off 1 day. Your time limit starts on 1 October 2026 and ends at 11:59pm on 31 March 2027.
Breaches for Contract Claims
The timelines of six months effective from 1 October, apply to claims made to an employment tribunal in England and Wales. The time limits for breach of contract claims differ in Scotland and will not come into force until 9 November 2026, therefore only claims that occur on or after this date will be subject to the increased time limit.
In Northern Ireland, the changes apply to industrial tribunal claims brought under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Hours of Work) Regulations 2018, and the Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations 2004.
Whilst these are welcome changes for employees, there is a lukewarm reception from many employers. Employees will benefit from having more time to prepare a strong case, to raise funds for legal costs as well as to resolve disputes internally or through the conciliation process, creating an opportunity for disputes to be resolved before they reach the Employment Tribunal.
Equally, for employers, the extended period may provide more time to build a stronger case and review fully all circumstances leading to the claim. If employees do seek arbitration through ACAS as mentioned, this may prevent some cases being escalated to employment tribunals if early conciliation is accepted so this may suit both parties.
Employer consideration
Review and update internal policies that reference time limits for tribunal cases, if you employ Scottish employees, take note of the later date for breaches of contract claims.
Take the opportunity to review GDPR record retention periods and specifically requirements for deletion of records, this may need to be extended also.