Employment Tribunal time limits

Extended time limits for starting claims

Currently, employees and workers have 3 months to start most types of claims in an Employment Tribunal. For unfair and wrongful dismissal claims, time starts from the effective date of termination. For discrimination claims, time starts from the act or omission complained of.

This is set to increase to 6 months for all types of claims (except for breach of contract - it's currently unclear if this exception is a mistake or intentional).

The government have said this change will happen no earlier than October 2026.

Effective date of termination

The effective date of termination is defined as one of the following:

• If the contract is terminated by notice (including 'garden leave', i.e. where the employee isn't required to work their notice period), it's the date on which that notice expires.
• If the contract is terminated without notice (including where a payment in lieu of notice is paid), it's the date on which the termination takes effect.
• If a fixed-term contract expires without renewal, it's the date on which the term expires.

In cases of constructive dismissal, the effective date of termination is the date the employee stopped doing any work. Otherwise, in most cases, the effective date of termination is the employee's last day of work.