Extended Employment Tribunal time limits: Why record-keeping matters

(Previously, a 6-month time limit already applied to claims for equal pay and statutory redundancy payments).

This extended time limit means that if the allegation the individual is complaining about occurs on or after 1 October 2026, they will have six months within which to bring their claim. This includes claims for unfair dismissal, whistleblowing, discrimination, wages claims, working time claims and TUPE.

This is a significant change which, in our view, is likely to result in more claims being brought within the relevant time limit.

ACAS Early Conciliation

Employers must also factor in ACAS Early Conciliation, which most individuals are required to undertake before bringing an Employment Tribunal claim. This in turn “stops the clock” for the limitation period. With the ACAS Early Conciliation period extended to 12 weeks, in theory, this could extend the time limit for bringing a claim to nine months or even 10 months if you add on the additional month extension to the limitation period after the Early Conciliation certificate is issued.

These extended time limits must also be considered alongside existing delays within the Employment Tribunal system. Employers could potentially wait more than a year before receiving notification of a claim. Within that time, key witnesses could have left the organisation, documents may no longer be available, and recollections of events may have faded.

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Record retention periods

Most employers operate retention periods of around six months, based on the assumption that a claim is unlikely to follow if one has not been received in that time. However, with the extension to the time limit and the possible delays in the Employment Tribunal system, our advice would be to extend your retention period for much longer. We would recommend retaining them for at least 12 months, where appropriate.

The quality of the records you keep is also going to be imperative because by the time you get to a hearing, which could be 2/3 years down the line, witnesses may struggle to recall precisely what was said or done during a particular meeting. Clear records of discussions, decisions and the reasons behind them can therefore prove invaluable when defending a claim.

These changes also come against the backdrop of further Employment Rights Act reforms due to take effect on 1 January 2027, including reducing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from two years to six months and removing the statutory cap on compensatory awards.

Together with the extension of Tribunal time limits, these changes make it increasingly important for employers to follow proper processes and keep good, accurate records.

As always, we are here to help.