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Employment Tribunal Time Limit Calculator (UK, 2026)

What is the time limit for an employment tribunal claim in 2026?

Six months for most claims where the relevant date (for example the effective date of termination) is on or after 1 October 2026, under the Employment Rights Act 2025. If the relevant date is before 1 October 2026 the old three months still applies. The limit ends the day before the corresponding date (EDT 15 October 2026: deadline 14 April 2027), and Acas early conciliation pauses the clock.

On 1 October 2026 the time limit for most tribunal claims doubled from three months to six. The change is not retrospective: a dismissal with an effective date of 30 September 2026 still has three months.

The free deadline calculators that used to rank for this went offline. This one applies the new rule, the transitional rule and the Acas clock-stop, and shows the working.

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Built by Muhammad Shahzeb Anwar, MSc Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Each rule is linked to the statutory instrument that made it, at the bottom of the page.

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Your deadline

Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.

For unfair dismissal, the effective date of termination: the day notice ran out, or the day of dismissal if no notice was given.
Leave blank if you have not started early conciliation.
Leave blank if conciliation is still running.

Which limit applies: the relevant date decides

The Employment Rights Act 2025 changed "three months" to "six months" across the tribunal jurisdictions from 1 October 2026. The commencement regulations (SI 2026/954) say the change does not apply where the relevant date is before 1 October 2026. The relevant date is the effective date of termination for unfair dismissal, the date of the act (or the end of conduct over a period) for discrimination, and the date of the act or failure, or the last of a series, for most other claims. Breach of contract claims in England and Wales moved to six months for terminations from the same date under a separate order (SI 2026/759); Scotland's order covers terminations from 9 November 2026.

How Acas early conciliation moves the deadline

Section 207B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 does two things. First, the days from the day after you contact Acas (Day A) up to the day you receive the certificate (Day B) are not counted. Second, if the deadline would then fall between Day A and one month after Day B, it becomes one month after Day B. So conciliation always leaves at least a month after the certificate. It only helps if you contact Acas before the original deadline, and a second certificate for the same matter does not extend time again. Since 1 December 2025 conciliation can last up to 12 weeks.

Worked example

Effective date of termination 15 October 2026: the limit is six months, ending 14 April 2027. The employee contacts Acas on 13 April 2027 and receives the certificate on 5 July 2027. The 83 days in between push the deadline to 6 July 2027, which is within a month of the certificate, so the deadline becomes 5 August 2027.

Before you rely on this

What this will not tell you

This is a date calculator, not legal advice. It covers Great Britain; Northern Ireland has its own rules. It does not cover equal pay, which has its own qualifying dates, or appeals. It assumes the date you enter is the correct relevant date, which is often the disputed point (for example when notice was or was not given). Month-end dates are calculated on the earlier, safer reading. If the deadline is close, file first and argue later, and take advice. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Questions

Questions people actually ask

Is the employment tribunal time limit now six months?

Yes, for most claims whose relevant date is on or after 1 October 2026, under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (commenced by SI 2026/954). Claims with a relevant date before 1 October 2026 keep the three-month limit.

How do I calculate the six-month deadline?

Take the relevant date, find the same date six months later, and go back one day. An effective date of termination of 15 October 2026 gives 14 April 2027. Then add any Acas early conciliation extension.

Does Acas early conciliation extend the time limit?

Yes, if you contact Acas before the deadline. The days from the day after first contact to the day you receive the certificate are added, and if the new deadline would fall within a month of the certificate it becomes one month after the certificate.

What if I miss the tribunal deadline?

For unfair dismissal the tribunal can accept a late claim only if it was not reasonably practicable to claim in time and you then claimed within a reasonable further period. For discrimination it can extend time where it is just and equitable. Both are discretionary.

Does the six-month limit apply to breach of contract claims?

In England and Wales, yes, where the effective date of termination (or the last day worked) is on or after 1 October 2026. In Scotland, for terminations from 9 November 2026.

Where every rule comes from

Sources

Checked against the text of the law on 16 October 2026. Laws and notified rates change; if a source below has moved on, the source wins over this page.

  1. SI 2026/954: six-month time limits from 1 October 2026 and the transitional rule (regs 3-4): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/954/made
  2. SI 2026/759 (breach of contract claims, England and Wales): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/759/made
  3. Employment Rights Act 1996, s.111 (unfair dismissal time limit): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/111
  4. Employment Rights Act 1996, s.207B (early conciliation extension): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/207B
  5. Equality Act 2010, s.123 (time limits): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/123
  6. SI 2025/1153 (early conciliation period of up to 12 weeks): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1153/made
Citation

Cite this tool

Free to use and free to quote. If a figure here is useful in something you are writing, a link back is all that is asked.

Muhammad Shahzeb Anwar, MSc Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Employment Tribunal Time Limit Calculator. Shahzeb Speaks. https://www.shahzebspeaks.com/employment-tribunal-time-limit-calculator/

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