Interim relief

A fast-track remedy that can keep pay and the employment relationship going while an unfair dismissal claim is decided — available only in a narrow set of cases, and only if you move within seven days.

What exactly does interim relief do if it is granted?

It keeps the employment relationship going, or treats it as continuing for pay purposes, while the real unfair dismissal claim is still waiting to be decided. The tribunal can order reinstatement, re-engagement, or — if the employer will not have the employee back — a continuation of the contract, meaning pay and benefits continue, until the final hearing. It is not a decision on whether the dismissal was actually unfair.

Does interim relief apply to every unfair dismissal claim?

No. It is only available where the reason, or principal reason, for dismissal falls within a specific list — mainly whistleblowing under section 103A, trade union membership or activities under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, health and safety representative activities, and acting as an employee representative in certain contexts. An ordinary unfair dismissal claim without one of these specific features is not eligible.

What is the deadline, and is there any flexibility?

Seven days from the effective date of termination, and the wording of section 128 is strict — the tribunal cannot consider an application presented after that period, regardless of a good reason for the delay. There is no equivalent of the 'just and equitable' extension that applies to some other tribunal time limits. If you are dismissed on a Friday, the clock does not pause for the weekend.

Do I need to have gone through ACAS early conciliation before applying for interim relief?

The usual requirement to contact ACAS before lodging a tribunal claim still applies to the underlying unfair dismissal complaint, but the tight seven-day deadline for interim relief means there is very little time to complete conciliation first. In practice, anyone considering an interim relief application needs to move immediately, in parallel with starting ACAS early conciliation, rather than waiting for it to finish.

What happens at the interim relief hearing itself?

The tribunal must determine the application as soon as practicable, and must give the employer at least seven days' notice of the hearing date, together with a copy of the application. The tribunal is not deciding the full merits of the unfair dismissal claim at this stage — it is assessing whether the employee is likely to succeed at the final hearing, a lower threshold, but one that still requires a reasonably strong case to be shown quickly.

What if the tribunal refuses interim relief?

The underlying unfair dismissal claim is not affected and continues in the normal way towards a final hearing. Refusal of interim relief simply means the employee does not get the short-term protection of continued pay or reinstatement while the case is pending — it is not a finding that the dismissal was fair.

Why interim relief exists

Most unfair dismissal claims take months to reach a final hearing, during which the dismissed employee has no income from that job and no formal protection while the case is pending. Interim relief exists for a narrow set of dismissals that Parliament treated as serious enough to deserve urgent, provisional protection — principally whistleblowing dismissals, and dismissals connected to trade union membership or activities, health and safety representative duties, or acting as certain kinds of employee representative. The underlying idea is that some dismissals are so likely to be unlawful, and so damaging if left unaddressed for months, that the tribunal should be able to act quickly rather than wait for the normal timetable.

The seven-day deadline, and why it is unusually strict

• 1 The clock starts at dismissal. The application must be presented to the tribunal before the end of the seven days immediately following the effective date of termination.
• 2 There is no discretion to extend it. Unlike the ordinary three-month time limit for unfair dismissal, which can sometimes be extended where it was not reasonably practicable to claim sooner, section 128's seven-day window has no equivalent escape route — tribunals have consistently refused late applications, whatever the reason for the delay.
• 3 This makes early advice essential. Someone dismissed for whistleblowing or union activity who wants to preserve the option of interim relief has to act within days, often before they have fully processed the dismissal itself.

What the tribunal actually decides

At the interim relief hearing, the tribunal is not resolving the unfair dismissal claim itself — that still goes to a full final hearing later. Instead, it assesses whether the employee is likely to succeed at that final hearing on the specific ground relied on. If satisfied, it can ask the employer whether they are willing to reinstate or re-engage the employee pending the final hearing. If the employer refuses, or if reinstatement is not practicable, the tribunal can order that the contract of employment continues for pay and benefit purposes, so the employee keeps receiving pay until the claim is finally decided, one way or the other.

An employee is dismissed on a Monday after raising a protected disclosure about patient safety at their workplace two weeks earlier. They believe the disclosure is the real reason for the dismissal, even though the employer cited performance.

Effective date of termination

Deadline to apply for interim relief

Section 103A — whistleblowing

End of the following Monday

The employee has one week from the Monday of dismissal to present the interim relief application — there is no extension available if they miss it, even by a day, regardless of why. The underlying unfair dismissal claim can still be brought within the normal three-month time limit either way, but the option of interim relief is lost once the seven days pass.

Protected disclosure (whistleblowing)

Automatic unfair dismissal

Employment tribunal time limit

Employment Rights Act 1996, section 128

Employment Rights Act 1996, section 129

Employment Rights Act 1996, section 103A

Interim Relief — Employment Tribunal Glossary

What interim relief is, which dismissals qualify, and why the strict seven-day deadline under section 128 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 leaves no room for delay.