Employment Tribunal time limits

Extended time limits for starting employment claims

Since 1 October 2026, workers and employees have 6 months to start a claim in an Employment Tribunal. Before 1 October 2026 the time limit was 3 months.

For unfair and wrongful dismissal claims, time starts from the effective date of termination. For discrimination claims, time starts from the act or omission complained of.

This change doesn't apply retrospectively, i.e. if the incident happened or your effective date of termination was before 1 October 2026, you must start a claim within 3 months of the incident/termination and will not benefit from any extended time.

Note: The time limit for breach of contract claims in Scotland will increase to 6 months on 9 November 2026.

Effective date of termination

The effective date of termination is defined as one of the following:

• If the contract is terminated by notice (including 'garden leave', i.e. where the employee isn't required to work their notice period), it's the date on which that notice expires.
• If the contract is terminated without notice (including where a payment in lieu of notice is paid), it's the date on which the termination takes effect.
• If a fixed-term contract expires without renewal, it's the date on which the term expires.

In cases of constructive dismissal, the effective date of termination is the date the employee stopped doing any work. Otherwise, in most cases, the effective date of termination is the employee's last day of work.