Employment Rights Act 2025: Employment tribunal time limits increase from 1 October 2026

From 1 October 2026, the time limit for submitting most employment tribunal claims (including unfair dismissal and discrimination) has increased from three months to six months. This change applies to claims where the dismissal, or the act or omission giving rise to the claim takes place on or after 1 October 2026.

Employers should be aware that, in practice, the employer may not receive notification of the claim until much later than six months after the relevant event. The Acas Early Conciliation process pauses the limitation clock and additional time may also be added after the conciliation certificate is issued. Once a claim has been submitted, tribunals can take several weeks to serve the claim form on respondents.

As a result, it is possible that employers may not receive notification of a claim until close to a year after the events in question. This means that key personnel may have moved on, memories may have faded and key evidence may be harder to locate. 

The changes will have important implications for document retention. Retention policies that were designed around the previous three-month time limit may no longer be adequate. Employers should review retention periods and consider whether automatic deletion settings for emails, other communications, CCTV footage and records remain appropriate. In light of the longer limitation periods, employers should ensure that relevant documents and records are retained for longer to reduce the risk of important evidence being lost before a claim is received.