Employment tribunal time limits: three months becomes six

More strong employment claims die from a missed deadline than from any weakness in the case itself. The time limits are short, the rules for calculating them are fiddly, and the discretion to extend them is narrow. And from October 2026, the rules change in employees' favour.

The current rule: three months less one day

For most claims, including unfair dismissal and discrimination, you must start your claim within three months less one day of the event you are complaining about. If you were dismissed on 10 June, your deadline is 9 September. People regularly get this wrong by assuming it is a tidy three months.

A few claims have different clocks. Statutory redundancy pay claims have six months, and equal pay claims can go to the civil courts within six years. But for the claims most people actually bring, three months less one day is the number that matters.

The clock runs from the effective date of termination for dismissals, or from the date of the act complained of for discrimination and detriment. Where treatment is ongoing, a series of connected acts can be treated as one continuing act, with the clock running from the last one.

What changes on 1 October 2026

The Employment Rights Act 2025 doubles the limit for most tribunal claims from three months to six months. The change applies where the event you are complaining about happens on or after 1 October 2026. Anything arising before that date stays on the old three-month clock.

So if you are dismissed on 5 October 2026, you have until April 2027 to claim. If you were dismissed on 5 September 2026, your deadline is still 4 December 2026.

The same Act is bringing in day-one unfair dismissal rights from 2027, which will make the time limits question relevant to far more people.

How early conciliation pauses the clock

Before you can submit a tribunal claim you must notify ACAS for early conciliation. The time spent in early conciliation does not count towards your limit: the clock stops when you notify ACAS and restarts when you receive your certificate, with rules that top up your remaining time so conciliation can never leave you worse off.

This makes early conciliation a protective step, not just a settlement step. If your deadline is approaching, notifying ACAS preserves your position while you decide what to do.

If your deadline has already passed

Tribunals can extend time, but the tests are hard. For unfair dismissal the question is whether it was not reasonably practicable to claim in time, a high bar that ordinary busyness, stress or not knowing the law will rarely meet. For discrimination the test is the softer just and equitable standard, where tribunals weigh the reason for the delay against the prejudice to each side.

People do win extensions, particularly for discrimination claims with a good explanation for delay. But you should treat an extension as a last resort, not a plan.

Why you should still act quickly

Six months sounds generous. It is not a reason to wait:

• Evidence goes stale. Emails get deleted in routine clear-outs, colleagues leave, and memories fade fast.
• Your losses keep running. Tribunal compensation for dismissal is based on your financial loss, and you are expected to look for new work. Sitting on a claim does not pause your life.
• Early advice changes outcomes. The difference between a well-framed claim and a rushed one is usually the work done in the first few weeks.
• Settlement leverage is highest early. Employers are most willing to talk seriously when a claim is fresh and their own costs are still ahead of them. Our guide to the tribunal process shows where settlement fits.

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