Employment Tribunal deadline doubles from three to six months

Up until now, the deadline for making most claims in the Employment Tribunal has been three months minus one day. This posed a barrier for workers, who had little time to conclude internal dispute resolution processes, gather all of their evidence and hopefully obtain legal advice.

From 1 October 2026 the deadline will be increased to six months minus one day for all claims. In this article, we explain how deadlines will work from October, and what workers should pay attention to when determining their deadline.

Employment Tribunal deadline extended from 1 October 2026

Under Section 152 and Schedule 12 of the Employment Rights Act 2025, from 1 October 2026 the deadline for making a claim in the Employment Tribunal will be set at six months minus one day.

This is a big change to the current deadline of three months minus one day, which applies to almost all claims. At the moment, there are just a handful of exceptions, for which the deadline is already six months minus one day:

• Statutory redundancy pay claims

• Equal pay claims

• Certain claims against a trade union

• Certain claims for members of the armed forces

What does “from 1 October 2026” really mean?

Workers need to understand which deadline, the three or six months one, applies to their claims. The new six months’ deadline only applies, where the relevant act or event happened on or after 1 October 2026. Otherwise, the old deadline applies.

Examples of acts or events include:

• Date of dismissal (“effective date of termination”)

• Date when a worker was supposed to be paid, but was not

• Date when a discriminatory act occurred (if it is a series of discriminatory acts, then this is the date of the last act)

What this also means is that if a worker is making multiple claims in the Employment Tribunal (e.g. unfair dismissal and discrimination), the different claims could have different deadlines.

Example – how does this work in practice?

Let’s look at an example. Florin was dismissed from his job on 25 October 2026, and he wants to make a claim for unfair dismissal in the Employment Tribunal. He also wants to claim that he was not paid his full wages, which he was supposed to receive on 25 August 2026. He filed an Acas Early Conciliation notification, and got confirmation from Acas that it was received on 24 October 2026. Acas Early Conciliation did not resolve the dispute, so Acas issued a certificate on 24 January 2027.

When is the deadline for Florin to make a claim for unfair dismissal? Florin’s dismissal date is on or after 1 October 2026, so the new deadline of six months minus one day will apply. Acas Early Conciliation lasted exactly two months. Therefore, the extended deadline is 24 June 2027.

When is the deadline for Florin to make a claim for unlawful deductions from wages? Florin should have been paid his full wages on 25 August 2026, which is before 1 October 2026. Therefore, he has three months minus one day (“old” deadline) to make a claim for unlawful deductions from wages. Acas Early Conciliation lasted exactly two months, so the deadline to make a claim is extended by two months. Therefore, the extended deadline is 25 January 2027. However, because Florin received his Acas Certificate on 24 January 2027, that would have left him with just one day to make a claim by 25 January. So instead, he will be given one month to make a claim from 24 January 2027 – his final deadline to make a claim is 24 February 2027.

Can I make a late claim in the Employment Tribunal?

Sometimes, an Employment Tribunal claim can be accepted even if it was submitted after the deadline. A judge will determine if the claim can be accepted after applying complex legal tests – otherwise, they will reject it. If you want to make a late claim in the Employment Tribunal, we strongly recommend that you seek legal advice first.