UK: Employment Tribunals: Time Limits

Authors: Charles Urquhart and Corinna Harris

The UK government is extending the time limit for bringing employment tribunal claims.

Currently, apart from statutory redundancy and equal pay claims, employment tribunal claims must be brought within either three months of the act complained of or the date of termination (depending on the claim) – although tribunals do have a discretionary power to extend time limits in specific, limited circumstances.

The recently tabled amendments to the Employment Rights Bill, however, include the new reform of extending the time limit for bringing all employment tribunal claims to six months. There was no mention of this when the Bill was first published, although this proposal was included in Labour’s policy document ‘Make Work Pay’.

Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-House Counsel

It seems likely that extending the time limit will lead to an increase in claims being brought in the employment tribunal. This could in turn impact on the length of time it takes for tribunals to deal with claims.

It is not yet known when this change will take effect.