Employment tribunal 6 months: does the new time limit apply to you?
- What
- From 1 October 2026 most employment tribunal claims must be made within 6 months less a day (SI 2026/954). Before that, the limit was 3 months less a day.
- When
- The date it happened decides, never the day you claim: on or after 1 October 2026, 6 months; before it, still 3.
- How
- Add the 6 (or 3) months to the date it happened and take off 1 day. Telling Acas pauses the clock, and the calculator shows every step.
The date is free. The £29 draft pack drafts the claim from your own timeline.
Dismissed before 1 October 2026: 3 months less a day. Dismissed from 1 October 2026: 6 months less a day. If you were dismissed on 15 September 2026, your last day is 14 December 2026; if on 1 October 2026, it is 31 March 2027.
One day apart, three months different
Acas's own example, wrong pay: paid wrongly on 30 September 2026, the limit ends on 29 December 2026. If you were paid wrongly on 1 October 2026, it ends on 31 March 2027.
What counts as the date it happened
The relevant date is set per claim by SI 2026/954. Unfair dismissal: your last day of employment (the effective date of termination). Unpaid wages: the payday, or the last one in a series. Discrimination: the act, or the end of conduct that went on over time.
Scotland, breach of contract: Acas says the limit stays at 3 months less a day until 9 November 2026. If the 2 readings differ, the calculator shows both and the earlier date first.
ET1 draft pack: your claim details, drafted (£29)
Work out your date above; the pack is offered under it. You type what happened, date by date. Back comes a numbered draft for the claim form, the list of what the form asks for, and a calendar file with your last day and reminders 14, 7 and 1 days before.
Not a legal review, not filed for you. The checking and the filing stay with you: you make the claim yourself on GOV.UK.
You pay £29 only for the draft and the calendar file, never for the date: the date and every step are free above.
Sources, each opened on 8 October 2026
- SI 2026/954 (made 1 September 2026): regulation 3, the longer limits "come into force on 1st October 2026"; regulation 4(1), they do not apply where the relevant date "occurs before 1st October 2026".
- SI 2025/1153 (in force 1 December 2025): early conciliation goes from six weeks to 12.
- Acas, Employment tribunal time limits (updated 1 October 2026): the worked examples (wrong pay on 30 September 2026 ends on 29 December 2026; on 1 October 2026, 31 March 2027) and the pause while early conciliation runs.
- Acas, How early conciliation works (updated 1 October 2026): "Early conciliation can last up to 12 weeks"; the certificate number goes on form ET1; at least 1 month after the certificate if you told Acas in time.
- GOV.UK, Make a claim to an employment tribunal: "You do not have to pay a fee to make a claim"; claim online or post the form; the Acas certificate numbers.
- GOV.UK, Form ET1 (updated 1 October 2026): the claim form, online or as a download.
Every rule the calculator uses, with the full source list.
Not legal advice. We are not solicitors and we file nothing: you make the claim yourself.