Claims in the Employment Tribunal must currently be presented within three months less one day of the act complained of. This applies to the majority of employment claims, including unfair dismissal, discrimination and whistleblowing complaints.
From 1 October 2026, the time limit for presenting a claim will be doubled from three months to six months. The new six-month time limit will apply to all employment claims, with the exception of breach of contract claims which will still be required to be brought within three months less one day of the date employment is terminated.
Alongside the extension of tribunal time limits, the ACAS Early Conciliation regime has also been amended. ACAS Early Conciliation is a process of claimants must go through prior to presenting a claim in the employment tribunal. This process can now last up to 12 weeks (previously six weeks).
Taken together, the longer Early Conciliation period and the extension of Employment Tribunal time limits mean that a claim form may not reach an employer under close to a year after a dismissal. This will inevitably exacerbate the backlog which the Employment Tribunals already face. It will be more important than ever for employer to retain sufficient documents to support dismissal decisions, review data retention processes and train managers to record the rationale for decisions, particularly in relation to performance, conduct and redundancy selection.
If you would like further guidance on how these changes could affect your business, please contact our employment team.