New regulations have been made that bring into force provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) that extend most employment tribunal claim time limits from three to six months. They come into force from 1 October 2026.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No 5 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 bring into force section 152 and schedule 12 of the ERA 2025.
Transitional provisions have been put in place that mean the time limit change only applies where the "relevant date", defined separately for the individual complaints that are affected, is on or after 1 October 2026. Where a relevant date is not specified, it will be the date of the act, conduct or failure complained of, or the date of the last act or failure in that series where there is a series of acts or failures. Claims based on a relevant date before 1 October 2026 remain subject to the previous limitation rules.
These regulations bring most types of employment tribunal claim time limit to six months, including those within the Employment Rights Act 1996, Equality Act 2010, Minimum Wage Act 1998, Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, Working Time Regulations 1998, Agency Worker Regulations 2010 and TUPE 2006. Other regulations are already in place for claims that were not listed in schedule 12. These changes do not affect early conciliation under Acas.
