Employment tribunal time limit: 3 or 6 months
The time limit for most employment tribunal claims is three months less one day from the dismissal or the act you are complaining about, or six months less one day if that date is on or after 1 October 2026. You must contact ACAS for early conciliation before the deadline, and doing so pauses the clock. The calculator below works out your exact deadline, including the ACAS extension.
What is the time limit for an Employment Tribunal claim?
It depends on the date of the dismissal or act you are complaining about. If it happened before 1 October 2026, most claims (unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, discrimination, unlawful deductions from wages, whistleblowing detriment, holiday pay) must be started within three months less one day. If it happened on or after 1 October 2026, the limit is six months less one day. Redundancy pay and equal pay claims already had six months and are unchanged. You must notify ACAS for early conciliation before the deadline, and doing so pauses the clock.
Did the time limit change on 1 October 2026?
Yes. Section 152 of and Schedule 12 to the Employment Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 October 2026 (SI 2026/954) and doubled most employment tribunal time limits from three months to six. Two further instruments (SI 2026/758 and SI 2026/759) made the same change for part-time worker, fixed-term employee and similar complaints, and for breach of contract claims such as wrongful dismissal. The change is not retrospective: it applies only where the relevant date, usually the date of the act or your effective date of termination, is on or after 1 October 2026.
I was dismissed in September 2026. Do I get six months?
No. The six-month limit applies only where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 October 2026. A dismissal that took effect in September 2026 keeps the old limit of three months less one day, even if you bring the claim after 1 October. For example, an effective date of termination of 15 September 2026 gives a primary deadline of 14 December 2026, before any ACAS extension.
What is the effective date of termination?
For dismissals with notice, it is the date your notice period ends. If you were paid in lieu of notice and told to leave straight away, it is usually the date you were told. For summary dismissal (fired on the spot), it is the date you were told you were dismissed. For constructive dismissal, it is the date your resignation took effect. If you are unsure, work to the earliest possible date.
Can the deadline be extended?
Rarely. For unfair dismissal the tribunal can extend the deadline only if it was not reasonably practicable to bring the claim in time, which is a high bar. For discrimination the test is whether it is just and equitable, which is broader but still not automatic. ACAS early conciliation pauses the clock. Internal grievance processes or appeals do not.
Does an internal appeal pause the clock?
No. This is one of the most common mistakes. Going through an internal appeal or grievance process does not stop the employment tribunal deadline. You must contact ACAS within the time limit regardless of whether your internal processes are still ongoing. You can run both at the same time.
What happens if I miss the deadline?
Your claim will very likely be rejected as out of time. The tribunal has limited discretion to allow late claims, and the reasons have to be strong. Once the deadline passes without ACAS having been notified, you are usually time-barred, however strong your case is.
How does ACAS early conciliation affect my deadline?
Contacting ACAS stops the clock from the day after you notify them until the day the certificate is issued, so those days are added to your deadline. If that still leaves less than a month after the certificate, you get one month from the certificate instead. You take whichever date is later; the two are never added together. Start My Claim calculates your exact deadline automatically.
Can I claim for multiple events — which date do I use?
If you have a series of discriminatory acts or a continuing course of conduct, the clock runs from the last act in the series, and it is the date of that last act that decides whether the three-month or six-month limit applies. For separate, discrete acts, each has its own clock. For unfair dismissal, there is only one relevant date: your effective date of termination.
Tribunal deadline calculator
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Start My Claim — Employment Tribunal Deadline Calculator
Free employment tribunal deadline calculator. Enter your dismissal date to see your exact filing deadline (three or six months, depending on the date), adjusted for ACAS early conciliation.
Employment tribunal time limit: 3 or 6 months
The date of the act decides which limit applies, not the date you make the claim. Miss the deadline and your claim is very likely gone, however strong it is. Check your dates now.
Employment tribunal time limit calculator
Free · No signup required · Includes ACAS adjustment
What are the time limits for employment tribunal claims?
Most claims have three months less one day, or six months less one day from 1 October 2026. Equal pay and redundancy pay already had six months. Where two figures are shown, the first applies if the date it runs from is before 1 October 2026 and the second if it is on or after that date.
How does the 1 October 2026 change work in practice?
The date that decides your limit is the date of the act you are complaining about, or your effective date of termination for a dismissal. It is not the date you contact ACAS or submit your claim.
Dismissed 15 September 2026
Three months less one day. The old limit applies because the dismissal was before 1 October 2026.
Dismissed 15 October 2026
Six months less one day. The new limit applies because the dismissal was on or after 1 October 2026.
Both dates are before any ACAS extension. For a series of connected acts, the last act in the series decides which limit applies. If you are unsure which side of 1 October your date falls, work to the shorter deadline.
Mistakes that make an employment tribunal claim late
How does ACAS early conciliation affect the time limit?
Contacting ACAS pauses the clock, whichever limit applies to you. This is the only reliable way to get more time. Your deadline moves by the days ACAS had your case, or to one month after the certificate if that is later.
- 1. Calculate your original deadline (three months less one day from the dismissal or act — six months less one day if it is on or after 1 October 2026)
- 2. Count the days ACAS had your case (Day A = date you contacted ACAS; Day B = date of ACAS certificate)
- 3. Add (Day B minus Day A) days to your original deadline — this is your stop-the-clock date
- 4. Separately, take one month after Day B — this is your backstop date
- 5. Whichever of the stop-the-clock date and the backstop date is later is your ET1 filing deadline — the two are never added together
Use the calculator above to get your exact dates.
Employment tribunal time limits: common questions
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Sources: ERA 1996 s.111 · Employment Rights Act 1996 · ACAS guidance · Employment Rights Act 2025, Sch. 12 · SI 2026/954 (commencement, 1 October 2026) · SI 2026/758 · SI 2026/759 (contract claims)