Employment tribunal time limits: how long do you have? 

The two limits and the 1 October 2026 change

GOV.UK says you usually have to claim within 6 months of the problem happening, and that if the problem happened before 1 October 2026 you may need to claim within 3 months. The increase comes from section 152 and Schedule 12 of the Employment Rights Act 2025, which came into force on 1 October 2026.

The transitional regulations say the longer limit does not apply where the relevant date is before 1 October 2026. For unfair dismissal the relevant date is the effective date of termination. In other cases it is the date of the act, conduct or failure complained of, or the last one in a series of similar acts.

Acas gives two worked examples: for a problem on 30 September 2026 the 3-month limit runs to 11:59pm on 29 December 2026, and for a problem on 1 October 2026 the 6-month limit runs to 11:59pm on 31 March 2027. That is what "3 months minus 1 day" and "6 months minus 1 day" mean in practice.

Acas also lists a few kinds of claim, such as statutory redundancy pay and equal pay, that already had 6 months before the change. If your claim is unusual, check the limit that applies to that type of claim.

When the clock starts

• Unfair dismissal: from the date your employment ended (the last day of notice, or the dismissal date if no notice was given)
• Discrimination: from the date of the most recent discriminatory act included in the claim
• Unauthorised deductions from pay: from the date you were not paid correctly
• Other claims: usually from the date the problem happened

Early conciliation and your deadline

You usually have to tell Acas before you claim. Acas says that when you notify it, your time limit is paused until early conciliation ends, but only if you notify Acas within your tribunal time limit.

Section 207B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 sets out the mechanics. Day A is the day you notified Acas and Day B is the day you received (or are treated as receiving) the certificate. The days from the day after Day A up to Day B are not counted. If your time limit would otherwise expire between Day A and one month after Day B, it instead expires at the end of that period. GOV.UK says that once you have the certificate you will have at least one month left to claim.

Raising a grievance or appeal with your employer does not change the time limit, so you still need to notify Acas before the original deadline passes.

If you are late

Acas says you can still make a claim after the time limit has passed, but a judge decides whether to accept it and time limits are usually strictly enforced. For unfair dismissal, section 111 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 allows a further reasonable period only where it was not reasonably practicable to claim in time. Other kinds of claim have their own tests, so do not plan on an extension.

A shorter limit for interim relief

If you were dismissed for trade union activities, acting as a workers' representative or whistleblowing and want to apply for interim relief (to continue your paid employment until the case is decided), GOV.UK says you must claim within 7 days of being dismissed.