Last reviewed: 19.11.2025
What is the current situation?
The majority of employment tribunal claims, such as most unfair dismissal claims, working time regulation claims, discrimination claims and deduction from wages claims, have a three-month time limit (limitation period). Only a few employment tribunal claims, such as for a redundancy payment, unfair dismissal for taking protected industrial action and equal pay, have a six-month limit.
So what’s changing and when?
Under the Employment Rights Bill, the time limit for most claims will be extended to six months. (Breach of contract claims are currently excluded, but it is not clear at this stage if that exclusion is deliberate or not.)
Some tribunal regions are already seeing a gap of several years between a claim being issued in the tribunal and the final hearing taking place. This change to the limitation periods could push hearings back even further, as more claims are likely to be filed.
These reforms are expected to take effect from October 2026.
What you need to do
The timing of some of these actions will depend on when the detail of the new laws is finalised and when the changes come into force. However, you can start to plan now:
- Ensure that your managers record carefully their reasons for dismissing (and other relevant decisions) and keep their notes. This is something they should be doing already, but it will become even more important with the likelihood of it taking much longer for a claim to reach a hearing.
- Get into the habit of taking statements from key witnesses at an early stage once you receive a claim, rather than waiting until nearer the hearing, to ensure memories are fresh and in case key witnesses leave the business before a tribunal claim is heard.
- Revisit your document retention policies to check they are sufficient for the new time limit. As a general principle, you may need to retain documents for longer. Make sure that key documents, particularly notes of any investigations, are kept securely for enough time to establish whether a claim has been brought.
How we can help
- Sign up to our updates as the legal changes come in, so you can stay compliant and up to date.
- We have detailed HR and employment law guidance, template policies and letters on our website in the HR & Legal Resources section, which will be maintained as the changes come into force.
- Our team of employment lawyers is happy to help if you’ve got questions or need advice. And if you need hands-on support with any projects as you prepare for the changes, our HR and legal consultants can work with you to get the right steps in place and stay compliant.
- Use our ERB enquiry line ([email protected]) for real-time access to legal specialists when you need quick answers about the Employment Rights Bill.
- Ask about our Right track review (coming soon): A focused, in-business audit with clear, practical steps to keep you compliant.
- You can also shape future policy. We speak regularly with Government and feed into consultations, using input from businesses like yours.
Ongoing employment law and HR support
- For longer-term support, our retained service includes:
- Direct access to employment law experts.
- Regularly updated HR policies and templates.
- Advice for day-to-day issues and bigger picture planning.
- The chance to help shape Government policy.
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