Employment Law Guide 2026: Employment tribunal time limits

The ERA 2025 will increase the time limits for bringing employment tribunal claims from three to six months, meaning employees will have longer to decide whether they wish to bring an employment tribunal claim. This change is expected to come into force in October 2026. In December 2025, the Acas early conciliation period also doubled from six to 12 weeks. These changes together will mean that employees could have as long as 10 months in which to bring an employment tribunal claim.

Implications/Action points

• Employers are likely to face more employment tribunal claims
• Revisit data and retention periods/policies and consider if document data retention periods should be increased
• Expect this to lead to further pressures on an already over-burdened employment tribunal system and further delays in cases being heard.