If you were dismissed before October 2026, your time limit is 3 months less 1 day. Do not assume you have 6 months -- contact ACAS today regardless of when the change takes effect.
The Current Position
Under the current law, the primary time limit for most employment tribunal claims is 3 months less 1 day from the date of dismissal or the act complained of. This is one of the strictest limitation periods in English law -- the tribunal has almost no discretion to extend it, and missing it almost always ends the claim permanently regardless of its merits.
What Changes in October 2026
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What Do I Do Next? -- FreeERA 2025 extends the primary limitation period for most employment tribunal claims from 3 months to 6 months. This means that employees whose dismissal or the act complained of occurs on or after the October 2026 commencement date will have 6 months less 1 day to start the ACAS early conciliation process, rather than 3 months less 1 day.
The change applies to claims under the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Equality Act 2010, and the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 -- covering unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, redundancy, and most other employment claims.
What Does Not Change
Wrongful dismissal has a 3-month time limit and this will not change under ERA 2025. Wrongful dismissal is a contractual claim rather than a statutory claim and falls outside the scope of the extension. If you are bringing both an unfair dismissal and a wrongful dismissal claim after October 2026, you will have different deadlines for each -- 6 months for unfair dismissal, 3 months for wrongful dismissal.
Equal pay claims have a 6-month time limit from the end of employment and are unaffected by the change. Redundancy pay claims have a 6-month time limit and are also unaffected.
The ACAS Extension Still Applies
The ACAS early conciliation period continues to extend the primary limitation period. The days between notification to ACAS and the issue of the early conciliation certificate are added to the primary deadline -- whether that primary deadline is 3 months or 6 months. Notifying ACAS is still the essential first step regardless of when your dismissal occurred.
What This Means in Practice
For employees dismissed before October 2026, nothing changes -- the 3-month deadline applies. For employees dismissed after the October 2026 commencement date, the 6-month period will apply. This gives significantly more time to take advice, calculate the value of the claim, and decide whether to proceed.
The extension is expected to lead to a significant increase in tribunal claims, combined with the January 2027 reduction in the unfair dismissal qualifying period from 2 years to 6 months. The tribunal system is already heavily backlogged. Earlier action -- contacting ACAS promptly rather than waiting for the extended deadline -- is still strongly advisable.