Tribunal
6 min read
The three months that decide everything
Most employment claims are lost on a date, not on the facts. Here is the calendar that actually governs your case, and why the two exceptions are relied on far more often than they succeed.
Nadia Farrell
Founding partner
In short
Three months less one day, from the act — not from the outcome.
Internal grievances and appeals do not pause the clock.
Notify Acas inside the window; conciliation extends, it does not reset.
Extensions exist but are discretionary and routinely refused.
Time limits run from the act, not from the day you understood it.
The clock starts before you know there is a problem
In almost every employment claim the limit is three months less one day, and it runs from the act complained of — not from the day you understood what had happened, and not from the day the internal process finished. That distinction ends more cases than any argument about the merits ever will.
The most common error is waiting for a grievance or an appeal to conclude. Internal processes do not pause the clock. A grievance that takes eleven weeks to resolve leaves you nine days, and an appeal that runs past the deadline leaves you nothing at all. Run the two in parallel: pursue the internal process and protect the limit at the same time.
Early conciliation extends it, but not by as much as people think
Notifying Acas stops the clock while conciliation runs and gives you at least a month after the certificate is issued. It is an extension, not a reset, and it only helps if you notify inside the original window. Notify late and there is nothing left to extend.
The tribunal can extend time where it was not reasonably practicable to claim in time, or, in discrimination cases, where it is just and equitable to do so. The second test is wider than the first. Neither is a plan. They are arguments made by people who have already missed the date, and they fail more often than they succeed.
A tribunal will not hear the strongest case in the building if it arrives a day late.
What to do next
If something has happened in the last eight weeks, the date matters more than the detail. Send us the timeline and we will tell you what the deadline is before you decide whether to act on it.
This note is general information about the law in England and Wales. It is not advice on your situation, and time limits are short — take advice before you act.
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