From 1st October 2026, the ordinary time limit for most Employment Tribunal claims will increase from three months to six months. The change gives employees longer to bring claims and means education employers may need to explain and evidence decisions much later than they do now.
New regulations have now confirmed that section 152 and Schedule 12 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 will come into force on 1 October 2026. These provisions extend the ordinary time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims from three months to six months.
The change covers many of the claims most likely to arise in schools, academies and multi-academy trusts, including unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing detriment, unlawful deductions from wages, working time complaints, agency worker claims, TUPE-related complaints and certain trade union claims.
Although the legislation describes a six-month period, the practical deadline is commonly expressed as six months less one day because of the way the starting date is counted. The precise deadline must always be calculated for the individual claim, including the effect of Acas Early Conciliation.
No. The transitional provisions are important. The new six-month limit applies where the legally defined “relevant date” falls on or after 1 October 2026. Where the relevant date falls before that date, the previous limitation rules continue to apply, even if the claim is submitted after 1 October.
The relevant date depends on the type of complaint. It may be the date employment ended, the date of a pay deduction, the date of the act or failure complained of, or the last act or failure in a series. This means schools should not decide which deadline applies simply by looking at the date on which an employee contacts Acas or submits a claim.
The effect is not simply that employees receive additional time. Schools and trusts will remain exposed to the possibility of proceedings for longer after a dismissal, grievance, discrimination complaint, whistleblowing concern or pay dispute has been concluded internally.
A matter that appears finished at the end of one term may still develop into a claim well into a later term or academic year. During that period, managers may change roles, governors may leave, witnesses may move to another school and memories may fade.
This makes the quality of the record increasingly important. A Tribunal may be considering the reasons for a school’s decision many months after it was made. The file will need to explain what happened, what evidence was considered, who made the decision and why the outcome was considered appropriate at the time.
The new regulations do not remove Acas Early Conciliation. Before most Employment Tribunal claims can be brought, the individual must normally notify Acas. The Early Conciliation rules can affect the final filing deadline, so the practical period during which a claim may be presented can extend beyond the headline six months.
For schools and trusts, silence does not necessarily mean that the possibility of a claim has ended. An employee may have protected their position by notifying Acas even though the school has not yet received an ET1 claim form. Live deadlines should therefore be calculated carefully rather than estimated from the date of the original event alone.
The extension of Employment Tribunal time limits is more significant than simply replacing “three months” with “six months”. Education employers need to understand how the starting date differs between types of claim and how limitation can be affected by Acas Early Conciliation, continuing conduct, a series of deductions or acts, transitional provisions and the particular remedy being pursued.
For example, unfair dismissal time normally runs from the effective date of termination. Discrimination may involve a one-off act, a failure to act or conduct extending over a period. Pay claims may concern one deduction or a series of deductions. Whistleblowing cases may involve detriment, dismissal and, in limited dismissal cases, a separate urgent application for interim relief. The correct approach therefore depends on the claim and the facts, not the headline six-month period alone.
Episode 3 of Legal Connect’s Employment Rights Act 2025 Implementation & Training Service, “The Fair Work Agency and Changes to Employment Tribunal Claim Deadlines”, provides an education-focused explanation of how the rules work in practice. It looks at different claim types and their starting points, how Acas Early Conciliation can affect the final deadline, and practical school-based scenarios showing how claims can remain live for longer than may first appear.
The episode also explores what the change means for schools, academies and trusts in practice, with particular consideration of document retention, evidence preservation, investigation records, decision-making notes and the need to develop a stronger culture of recording important employment decisions as matters progress, rather than trying to reconstruct the file after a claim arrives.
Learn more about our Employment Rights Act 2025 Implementation and Training Service >>