Employment Tribunal Time Limit Calculator

This employment tribunal time limit calculator works out the last day an employee in England, Wales or Scotland can submit a tribunal claim, using the three month limit for acts before 1 October 2026 and the new six month limit for acts on or after that date. It then adds the Acas early conciliation extension from the dates on your certificate, so you see one clear deadline and every step behind it.

Quick answer: For dismissals or acts from 1 October 2026 you have 6 months less one day to claim; before that date, 3 months less one day. Acas conciliation adds the days from Day A to Day B, and you always get at least one month after Day B. The employment tribunal time limit calculator applies both.

What Is the Employment Tribunal Time Limit?

The employment tribunal time limit is the period within which you must start Acas early conciliation and then submit your ET1 claim form, counted from the act you are complaining about or your effective date of termination.

The formula in plain words: take the date of the act, go forward 3 or 6 months and step back one day. That is the original limit, and it is also the last day to contact Acas. Under section 207B of the Employment Rights Act 1996, you then add the days between Day A, when you contacted Acas, and Day B, when you received the certificate. If that new date lands before one month after Day B, the deadline becomes one month after Day B instead. The two steps are applied in order, not as alternatives, which is where many hand calculations and some online tools go wrong.

How to Use the Employment Tribunal Time Limit Calculator

Step 1: Choose the Claim and Enter the Date

Pick the claim type in the employment tribunal time limit calculator, then enter your effective date of termination for dismissal, or the date of the act. For a run of unpaid wages or a series of discriminatory acts, use the last one, because time runs from the end of the series.

Step 2: Set Your Acas Status

Choose Not contacted to see the last day to notify Acas, Waiting if conciliation is under way, or Certificate received once you have the early conciliation certificate with its number.

Step 3: Enter Day A and Day B

Both dates are printed on the certificate. Day A is when Acas received your notification and Day B is when you received the certificate, or are treated as receiving it if it was emailed.

Step 4: Read Your Deadline

The headline is the last day to submit your ET1, with the number of days left. The table shows each step, and the stats show the primary limit, the days added and one month after Day B, so you can check the employment tribunal time limit calculator result against your own working.

How Long Do I Have to Make an Employment Tribunal Claim?

You have 6 months less one day for most claims where the act or dismissal happened on or after 1 October 2026, and 3 months less one day if it happened before then. Statutory redundancy pay and equal pay claims already had 6 months. All limits are then extended by Acas early conciliation.

Worked example: Priya was dismissed from a Manchester call centre with an effective date of termination of 14 August 2026, before the change, so her limit is 3 months less one day: 13 November 2026. She contacted Acas on 20 October 2026 (Day A) and received her certificate on 4 December 2026 (Day B), 45 days later. Adding 45 days to 13 November gives 28 December 2026. That falls before 4 January 2027, one month after Day B, so her final deadline is 4 January 2027.

Act or dismissal date	Time limit	Original deadline	Example with Acas
14 August 2026	3 months	13 November 2026	Day A 20 Oct, Day B 4 Dec: 4 January 2027
30 September 2026	3 months	29 December 2026	Contact Acas by 29 December 2026
1 October 2026	6 months	31 March 2027	Contact Acas by 31 March 2027
3 October 2026	6 months	2 April 2027	Day A 10 Jan, Day B 4 Mar 2027: 25 May 2027

Does the Six Month Limit Apply to My Claim?

It applies if the act you complain about, or your dismissal, happened on or after 1 October 2026. The transitional rule in regulation 4 of the 2026 commencement regulations says the longer limit does not apply where the relevant date is before 1 October 2026, so a dismissal on 30 September keeps the 3 month limit even though the claim is made later.

The one exception in timing is breach of contract claims in Scotland, where the change took effect on 9 November 2026, and the GOV.UK Employment Rights Act timeline lists both dates. For a dismissal that also involves redundancy pay, the redundancy pay calculator shows what you are owed before you decide which claims to bring.

What Happens if I Miss the Tribunal Deadline?

A late claim is usually rejected unless the tribunal extends time, and that is hard to win. For unfair dismissal and wages claims you must show it was not reasonably practicable to claim in time; for discrimination the test is whether an extension is just and equitable. Ignorance of the deadline rarely succeeds.

Contacting Acas after the original limit has passed does not start the extension, and the employment tribunal time limit calculator flags this, so the safest plan is to notify Acas early. The conciliation period can now last up to 12 weeks, which changed on 1 December 2025, so a late Day A leaves little room. To count the exact days you have left, the days between dates calculator gives the gap from today to your deadline, and online ET1 claims can be submitted on any day, including weekends.

Frequently Asked Questions