Employment Tribunal time limits have changed: what GP practices need to know

Since 1 October 2026, claims such as unfair dismissal, discrimination and unlawful deductions from wages can be brought in the Employment Tribunal within six months rather than three. In practical terms, Acas describes the deadline as six months minus one day.

The change covers many of the claims employers are most likely to encounter, along with a wide range of other statutory employment rights. Equal pay and statutory redundancy pay claims already generally had a six-month time limit.

For GP practices, this means an employment dispute can remain capable of progressing to tribunal for considerably longer than it did before.

The change is not retrospective

The new deadline does not apply to every workplace issue that was already outstanding on 1 October.

Generally, the six-month limit applies where the dismissal or the act complained of took place on or after 1 October 2026. Where it took place before that date, the three-month limit continues to apply. Practices will therefore be working with both sets of time limits for some time.

For unfair dismissal and breach of contract claims, the key date is normally the effective date of termination. Discrimination claims are generally linked to the act complained of. Where a complaint relates to a series of acts, the six-month limit applies only if the last of them took place on or after 1 October 2026.

A worked example

Take two members of staff who are dismissed on different dates (before any extension for Acas Early Conciliation):

• Dismissed on 15 September 2026: the claim must be brought by 14 December 2026 (three months, less one day)
• Dismissed on 15 October 2026: the claim must be brought by 14 April 2027 (six months, less one day)

What should GP practices do now?

Practices should review their HR processes, particularly:

• Update policies, handbooks and HR guidance referring to the three-month tribunal limit
• Record, for each dispute or dismissal, the key date and which time limit applies
• Retain grievance, disciplinary, dismissal, absence, performance and associated correspondence for as long as a claim remains possible
• Check your retention schedule so leavers' HR files are not deleted too early, but are not kept indefinitely either, in line with UK GDPR
• Make sure investigation notes and management decisions are properly documented at the time
• Remind managers that a dispute should not be treated as closed simply because the deadline has passed
• Continue dealing with grievances, appeals and disputes promptly rather than allowing the longer deadline to slow internal processes

Grievances and Acas Early Conciliation

Following an internal grievance, disciplinary or appeal process does not stop the tribunal time limit running.

Acas Early Conciliation is different. The clock stops from the day Acas is notified until the early conciliation certificate is issued. If the deadline would otherwise fall during that period, or within a month afterwards, the person bringing the claim normally has a month from the certificate. The overall window can therefore be longer than six months.

Tribunals can also sometimes accept late claims in limited circumstances, so a dispute should never be assumed closed on the deadline alone.

The practical message for practices

The important change for employers is not simply replacing “three months” with “six months” in a handbook.

A longer claims window makes good contemporaneous HR records even more important. Six months after a difficult conversation, performance meeting or dismissal, managers may remember events differently, staff may have moved on and emails or documents may be harder to locate.

Good documentation, clear decision-making and properly managed HR processes remain one of the strongest ways for a practice to demonstrate what happened and why.

This article provides general information, correct at the time of writing, and should not be treated as specific legal advice.