Waiting for that potential claim to land? As of today, three months just became six.
From 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims doubles. In some situations, it effectively triples. If you have ever closed the file on a difficult exit once the three-month mark passed, that habit stops being safe today.
How the new timings add up
The tribunal time limit we have all relied on for years has doubled, from three months less one day to six months less one day. That is the headline. The real window is longer.
- Six months. The new standard limit for most claims, including unfair dismissal and discrimination.
- Plus up to twelve weeks. ACAS early conciliation stops the clock. The conciliation period doubled from six to twelve weeks last December, so that adds up to three more months.
- Plus service time. Once a claim form (the ET1) is lodged, the tribunal takes several weeks to serve it on you.
Add it together and you are looking at approximately nine months from dismissal before a claim is even lodged, and the best part of a year before it lands on your desk. That is a long time to wait to find out whether there is a potential claim in the hopper.
Two details that catch people out
The date of the act decides which limit applies. The six-month limit applies where the act, omission or dismissal happens on or after 1 October 2026. A dismissal that took effect yesterday still carries the old three-month limit, even if the claim form arrives after today.
With a series of acts, the last act counts. Where a claim rests on a series of acts, such as ongoing harassment or repeated deductions from wages, the new limit applies if the last act falls on or after 1 October 2026. That pulls earlier events, some from well before today, back into play.
What this means for your business
You can no longer close the file at month four. Under the old regime, if no ET1 had arrived by month four or five, you could close the file with a reasonable level of confidence. From today, the ET1 may not reach you until the best part of a year after the event.
Expect more claims. The employee who was signed off with stress, waiting for an appeal outcome, or simply didn’t know the rules used to miss the window. Fewer of them will now.
Expect better prepared claims. Six months plus conciliation gives a former employee time to take proper advice, gather documents and work through your grievance and appeal procedures without racing a deadline. Some of that is good news, because more disputes will resolve internally. And HRCentral can assist with this, but the claims that do get through will be organised. They will be arguing about events you have half forgotten, may have Trade Union involvement and many will potentially use AI to build their case.
Which brings us to the unglamorous consequence: your records now need to outlast your memory.
What can you do to ensure you have the right docs on file?
- Keep notes for longer. Review your data retention policy so meeting notes, emails, investigation records and outcome letters are kept for at least twelve months after an exit. A longer limitation period is a legitimate reason to hold this data, but write that reason into your policy so you stay GDPR compliant.
- Don’t assume there is no claim until a year has passed. Diarise the real limitation date for every exit, using the date of the act, not a rough “three months” or “six months”.
- Write it down at the time. Train your managers to keep clear, dated, factual notes of difficult conversations. A note written on the day beats a recollection nine months later.
- Keep everything in one place. Store contracts, policies, warnings and outcome letters in your HRIS (your HR software), not in inboxes and desk drawers. Breathe HR gives you unlimited document storage, so there is no need to clear out records early. Its record changes report shows who updated what, and when.
- Finish your processes properly. Complete grievances and appeals thoroughly and in good time. A well-run internal process is your best chance of resolving a dispute before it reaches a tribunal.
- Watch for patterns. Where complaints build over time, remember the last act sets the clock. Deal with recurring issues early rather than letting them run.
How HRCentral can help
The best way to avoid a claim is to stop the dispute growing in the first place. We work alongside you to resolve issues early and amicably, through honest conversations and well-run grievance and conflict resolution processes, so more problems settle internally and fewer reach ACAS.
Where an issue needs legal input, we partner with some of the best employment lawyers in our local area, who support clients nationwide. We work alongside them, handling the HR groundwork so you get the best advice to resolve or settle an issue, at a lower overall cost.
We also help you find the risks that may be loitering: the complaint that never quite closed, the exit with thin paperwork, the absence case that has drifted. A review now costs far less than a claim form in nine months’ time. Many of our well-intentioned clients are tripping up because they have insufficient paperwork or process to mitigate a claim.
As a Breathe HR partner, we set up Breathe so your documents and processes sit in one secure place, ready if you ever need them. We also train your managers to keep the notes that matter. You only pay for the hours you use, with no retainers.
If you are managing an exit right now, or want a second pair of eyes on your documentation, get in touch at enquiries@hrcentral.co.uk or call 0118 324 2526.
This blog covers HR best practice, not legal advice. For specific claims or tribunal risk, speak to an employment solicitor. We are happy to introduce you to one of our trusted legal partners.
