If something has gone wrong at work and you're thinking about making an employment tribunal claim, one date matters more than almost any other: your deadline for making a claim.

From 1st October 2026 that deadline is changing, and for most people it's getting more generous.

Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims doubles, from three months less one day to six months less one day.

It is the biggest change to tribunal claims deadlines in over fifty years, and it affects almost everyone with a potential claim.

Why the deadline matters so much

Employment tribunal deadlines are strict. Miss yours and you usually lose the right to claim, no matter how strong your case may be. So more time is a welcome breathing space.

But here's what people often don't take on board: the goal is rarely a full tribunal hearing. Most workplace disputes are better resolved by a negotiated settlement: quicker, less stressful and more private.

But employers tend to take settlement talks seriously only when there is a real tribunal claim, or the threat of one, behind them.

Getting a tribunal claim in on time is often what gets you a sensible offer from your employer, and gets it sooner. So the deadline is not just a cut-off, it's leverage.

The catch: the new deadline isn't backdated

The new six months deadline for submitting your claim only applies where the thing you are complaining about happened on or after 1st October 2026. If it happened before that date, the old three months less one day deadline still applies, even if you only took advice later.

An out-of-time claim doesn't somehow come back to life. So if you were dismissed on 20 September 2026, your claim deadline is 19 December 2026, not March 2027.

If you read a headline saying “tribunal deadlines are now six months”, don't assume you have longer than you actually do. If in doubt, work to the earlier three months date: it costs you nothing and protects your claim.

Which date starts your time clock?

The date that counts depends on the type of claim:

• Unfair dismissal (and breach of contract): it's your last day of employment, not the day you were told.
• So, if you were given notice in September 2026 but your job actually ended in October, you get six months.
• If instead you were paid in lieu and left straight away in September, you get three months.
• Unpaid wages or holiday pay: it's the date of the pay you were short-changed on, or the last in a run of deductions.
• Discrimination or harassment: it's the date of the act, or, where the behaviour ran over a period, the end of that period.

That first point answers a common worry: being warned before 1st October doesn't lock you into the old deadline. What matters is when your employment actually ended.

What if my situation straddles 1st October?

This is where it gets a bit complicated.

• If you have faced discrimination, or a series of related issues, that carried on after 1st October 2026, the six months limit can usually cover the whole thing.
• That includes incidents that happened before October, providing it genuinely is one continuing course of conduct.
• If some earlier incidents were really one-offs, each of those is judged on the old three-month clock and may even already be too late to claim for.

So one claim can end up with different deadlines for different parts of a claim. If your situation spans the 1st October date, treat the earliest incident you want to rely on as your safest deadline, and get professional legal advice.

A few related things worth knowing

• “Less one day” is not a typo. Both the old and new deadlines are counted as whole months minus a day. If your employment ended on 1st October, your six-month deadline is 31st March, not 1st April.
• You still have to contact Acas first of all. Before you can lodge a claim you must notify Acas for ‘early conciliation’, and you have to do that within your time limit. It can extend your deadline, but only if you start early conciliation in good time.
• Some claims already had a six months claim deadline and are not changing, including statutory redundancy pay and equal pay.
• The tribunal can sometimes allow a late claim, but it's very rare and only in limited circumstances, so never rely on it.

Six months is not a reason to wait

More time is good news, but it's not an excuse to sit back and do nothing. Witnesses move on, memories fade, and documents are far easier to gather while you're still on the payroll. The sooner you act, the stronger your position, and the sooner you can push for a settlement.

How Grapple Law can help

Not sure what your deadline is, or whether you even have a claim? Grapple Law excels at that kind of thing.

You can check, for free, whether you may have a case and what your time limit is, get help drafting the letters that put pressure on your employer, and push for a settlement, all in plain English but without the traditional price tag.

If a deadline is looming, don't leave it to chance. Find out for free at grapple.law whether you may have a case and whether Grapple Law can help.