Employment Right Act Archives

In less than 18 months, the Employment Rights Act comes into force and with it an increase in the limitation period for practically every employment claim. Luke Menzies considers the consequences for employers.

Whether they’ve known it or not, employers have been very fortunate that employees have a mere 3 months to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. This short deadline has worked to and employers advantage because employees have had to be really on the ball to meet that tight deadline.

This is all set to change in October 2026 when the current Employment Rights Bill has become law and extends the limitation period to six months for practically every employment claim*.

This is likely to result in a notable increase in claims and litigation – and a headache for employers. We are aware of claims every week that don’t get issued because they are a few days or weeks out of time. Our recommendation? Don’t downsize your HR function anytime soon. If anything, you need to invest in it, and in your management skills.

One of the areas we foresee a big rise is in pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims. The current 3-month time limit has worked particularly well for employers here, since few new mothers have the time or energy to make a claim within such a short period when their hands are so literally full. We expect the introduction of a six-month time limit will really help such claimants to find the time to bring a claim that at the moment they are not able to do.

Currently, it is easy to think that if a claim hasn’t landed on your desk after 3 months then you are home and dry. However, don’t forget that the 3-month time limit is the time limit for going to ACAS and starting the Early Conciliation process. You then need to add on 6 weeks for that process and then, if it fails to result in a settlement, the claimant is allowed one more month in which to submit a formal claim to the Employment Tribunal. There is then the several weeks (at worst, months) before the Tribunal office processes the claim and sends the employer a copy, along with a request to submit a response. Given all this, it can often be 6.5 to 7 months after a dismissal before a claim of unfair dismissal lands on an employer’s desk, for example.

When the time limit is extended to 6 months, we should assume this will mean it could be more like 9.5 to 10 months on average between a event being sued over having occurred and the notice of claim arriving with the employer. That’s a long old wait.

The increased time limit means more time for an employee to build a case and prepare a claim and plenty of time to negotiate. This increased time limit also gives employees the time to seek professional advice.

Here are a few practical and important things you can do right now to prepare for this change:

Hold onto all your employment records for at least 10 months after any incident. If there is a sniff of a grievance or litigation, hold onto them for even longer.
If a line manager of someone who might potentially sue is leaving, consider reaching agreement with the line manager that they will still assist you in any litigation and be a witness if required. If they are signing a settlement agreement with you, ensure that such an ‘assistance clause’ is included. It will be well worth it. Defending a difficult claim without a key witness is very challenging.
Review your HR budgets and your insurance cover. There will be more litigation, no doubt about it as longer claim deadlines will create an increase in claims. We can’t see insurance premiums doing anything other than rising.
Review your internal grievance and appeal processes. Giving employees more time to raise and resolve issues will be beneficial.
Invest in your management training. Good people management skills will become even more urgent to head off conflicts and resulting tribunal claims. Managers trained in conflict management will prove a real asset.
Embrace mediation. Despite the huge cost of workplace conflict, businesses have not commonly used mediation for workplace conflicts. Yet when it is used, mediation is very effective. We hope the increased risks of claims will bring shine a light on the benefits of mediation. Our blogs about workplace mediation are well worth a read; Why Mediate? The benefits of solving workplace disputes and The true costs of workplace conflict.

The good news is that there is still time to prepare, but only if you start soon!

* Breach of contract claims after employment has ended will apparently retain a three-month time limit. We don’t know why. It may have been a mistake in the drafting. Of course this may yet change if someone spots it.

If you need advice or support to get to grips with the changes the Employment Rights Bill will bring – or indeed about any employment law issue, please get in touch; 0117 325 0526 / enquiries@menzieslaw.co.uk

Tag: Employment Right Act

Beware increases to Tribunal time limits…

In less than 18 months, the Employment Rights Act comes into force and with it an increase in the limitation period for practically every employment claim. Luke Menzies considers the consequences for employers.

Whether they’ve known it or not, employers have been very fortunate that employees have a mere 3 months to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. This short deadline has worked to and employers advantage because employees have had to be really on the ball to meet that tight deadline.

Tag: Employment Right Act

Beware increases to Tribunal time limits…

In less than 18 months, the Employment Rights Act comes into force and with it an increase in the limitation period for practically every employment claim. Luke Menzies considers the consequences for employers.

Whether they’ve known it or not, employers have been very fortunate that employees have a mere 3 months to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. This short deadline has worked to and employers advantage because employees have had to be really on the ball to meet that tight deadline.

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