Employment tribunal time limits: how much time you actually have

Employment tribunalAn independent court that hears disputes between employees and employers. It is free to bring a claim as a claimant, and most hearings take place in public. claims run on strict deadlines, and missing one is usually fatal to a claim, however strong it is otherwise. The general rule is well known in outline, three monthsThe standard time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims, running from the date of the act complained of. Because the limit is three months less one day, you should not wait until what fee..., but the details that actually decide your case (which three months, from what date, and whether anything can extend it) vary depending on what you’re claiming. Here’s the general rule, how it changes by claim type, what can extend it, and what AcasThe Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. A public body that provides free, impartial guidance on workplace rights and disputes, and runs the mandatory early conciliation process before any ... Early ConciliationA free process run by ACAS that you must go through before you can submit a claim to an employment tribunal. ACAS contacts your employer to see if a settlement can be reached, and the process pauses y... does to your deadline.

The general rule

For most claims, including unfair dismissalA legal claim you can bring if your employer dismissed you without a fair reason or without following a fair process. You normally need two years of continuous employment to qualify, though some dismi..., discrimination, harassmentUnwanted behaviour related to a protected characteristic, such as your sex, race, disability, age or religion, that violates your dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating environment..., victimisationBeing treated badly because you've raised a complaint, supported someone else's complaint, or done something else the law protects, such as raising a grievance or whistleblowing. It is unlawful in its..., and whistleblowingMaking a disclosure about wrongdoing in your workplace, such as a health and safety risk, a criminal act, or a miscarriage of justice. If the disclosure qualifies as protected, the law gives you signi... detrimentAny action your employer takes that puts you at a disadvantage, short of dismissal. In a whistleblowing or discrimination context, being moved to a worse role, excluded from meetings, or given an unfa..., you have three months less one day from the act you’re complaining about to start the Acas Early Conciliation process. It’s three months less one day, not a full three months, because the day of the act itself counts as day one. Treat the deadline as a full three months, and you could be a day late without realising it.

Time limits by claim type

Different claims run on different clocks. The table below sets out the most common ones.

If your situation involves more than one type of claim, each one runs on its own clock from its own trigger date. It’s worth checking each claim separately rather than assuming one deadline covers everything you’re bringing.

From 1 October 2026, the three-months-less-a-day limit for most claims listed above doubles to six months, under the Employment Rights Act 2025. For breach of contract claims in Scotland specifically, this change takes effect later, from 9 November 2026, so check which date applies before relying on it.

What Acas Early Conciliation does to the deadline

You almost always have to notify Acas for Early Conciliation before submitting a tribunal claim, and doing so affects your deadline: the clock stops on the day you notify Acas, and resumes a fixed period after your certificate is issued. What is Acas Early Conciliation, and how does it actually work? covers the full process, the form, timing, and the certificate in detail. Notifying Acas in good time can genuinely extend how much time you have left. It can’t revive a deadline that had already passed before you notified them.

Can a missed deadline ever be extended?

Sometimes, though only at the tribunal’s discretion. For most claims, it can allow a late claim only if it decides it “was not reasonably practicable” to bring it in time, and that the claim was then brought within a further reasonable period. That’s a genuinely high bar: general unawareness of the time limit, or simply being busy or upset, usually isn’t enough on its own.

Discrimination claims specifically get a different, slightly wider test: a tribunal can allow a late claim if it considers it “just and equitable” to do so given the circumstances. Missing a tribunal time limit doesn’t always mean your discrimination claim is over covers a real case example of how that test gets applied in practice. Even so, this is still an exception a tribunal may grant, not a guarantee, and the safest assumption is always that your deadline is fixed.

What to do if you’re not sure how much time you have left

Work out the exact date the clock started: the act complained of, or the date employment ended, depending on your claim type. Then count forward using the correct limit for that claim type. Separately, account for any time Acas Early Conciliation has already used up or paused. If more than one claim type applies to your situation, do this calculation for each one individually. If you’re close to a deadline and genuinely unsure, notify Acas now. It costs nothing, and it starts protecting your position immediately, even if you haven’t fully decided whether to proceed to tribunal.