Tribunal time limits: what does the new six-month rule actually change?

Adrian Fryer

From 1 October 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 doubles the primary limitation period for many employment tribunal claims from three months to six.

The headline is straightforward. The detail is slightly more nuanced.

Six months is the starting point, not necessarily the deadline

The change applies where the existing primary time limit is three months. For those claims, the starting limitation period will become six months.

That includes many of the claims HR encounters most frequently, including unfair dismissal and discrimination claims.

But describing the new regime simply as a “six-month time limit” risks overlooking two important points.

First, limitation continues to run from the event specified for the particular cause of action. In an unfair dismissal claim, for example, that will ordinarily be the effective date of termination. Discrimination claims can be more complicated, particularly where a claimant alleges conduct extending over a period.

Secondly, the Acas Early Conciliation rules remain relevant. Starting Early Conciliation within the primary limitation period can effectively extend the deadline for presenting a claim. Six months will therefore frequently not be the final date by which proceedings can be issued.

What is not changing?

The reform extends the primary limitation period. It does not remove the existing rules which can sometimes allow claims to proceed outside that period.

The applicable test continues to depend upon the cause of action. In unfair dismissal claims, for example, tribunals can consider whether it was reasonably practicable to present the claim in time and, if not, whether it was presented within a further reasonable period. Discrimination claims operate under the different “just and equitable” extension.

Those tests will remain relevant, albeit against the backdrop of a substantially longer primary period.

A change in litigation dynamics

For senior HR teams, the significance of the reform is therefore wider than a simple doubling of the limitation period.

Employers will face a longer period of uncertainty before they can be confident that many disputes will not result in proceedings. The additional time may also affect pre-claim strategy, giving prospective claimants considerably longer to seek advice, pursue internal processes, obtain information and consider Early Conciliation before committing to litigation.

The practical consequence is that the familiar three-month limitation mindset needs to change. From 1 October, six months becomes the new starting point, but calculating the actual limitation date will still require consideration of the particular cause of action and the Early Conciliation rules.

Contact Adrian Fryer, Senior Partner and Head of Employment.