Employment claim time limits extended to six months

Posted on: 01/10/2026

Category: For you, For your business

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

As part of the Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms, the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims increased from three months to six months on 1 October 2026.

Currently the time period for bringing a claim for unfair dismissal or a claim in respect of an act of discrimination or victimisation is limited to the period of three months from the date of the dismissal or from the date of the discriminatory act or omission. From 1 October, a new six months’ time limit applies where the act, omission or dismissal takes place either on 1 October or after.

The old regime in relation to three months still applies for any act, omission or dismissal that took place either yesterday or previously. 1 October is the clear cut off point. With the removal of the cap on compensation for unfair dismissal that is forthcoming shortly as well, there is clearly potential here for the number of claims being brought to an Employment Tribunal to increase. With Tribunals already buckling under the strain of a backlog of cases, this is undoubtedly going to add more pressure to the system.