Employment tribunal deadline calculator

If your employer has sacked you unfairly, underpaid you or discriminated against you, the tribunal deadline matters as much as the evidence. Miss it and you could lose the chance to enforce your rights. A grievance or appeal does not stop the clock.

Use this calculator to check the ordinary deadline for your claim and the effect of Acas early conciliation. Enter the date the problem happened, not the date you decided to take action. If you have more than one claim, calculate each one separately.

Most claims now have six months less one day where the relevant date is on or after 1 October 2026. Earlier events keep the old three-month limit. Scotland’s tribunal breach of contract limit changes separately on 9 November 2026. Get your union or a free adviser to check the date before you rely on it.

How the deadline works

The starting date depends on the claim. For unfair dismissal it is normally when your employment ended. For an unlawful deduction it is the payday when you were underpaid, or the last deduction in a legally linked series. Discrimination, continuing conduct and failures to act can need individual advice. The calculator cannot decide whether separate incidents are legally linked.

Count calendar months, not 90 or 180 days. The relevant day counts as the first day, so the ordinary limit ends one day before the corresponding date three or six months later. If that corresponding day does not exist, the period ends on the last day of the target month. For example, an event on 31 October 2026 has an ordinary six-month deadline of 30 April 2027, not 29 April.

Notify Acas within the original limit. Day A is the date Acas receives your early conciliation notification, not a call to the helpline. Day B is when you receive the certificate, or an earlier date you are legally treated as receiving it. The day after Day A through Day B does not count. Work out that adjusted deadline first. If it falls between Day A and one calendar month after Day B, the deadline becomes one month after Day B instead. These are two rules, not a pause followed by an extra month in every case.

Worked example: underpaid warehouse wages

This is an example, not a worker’s account. A warehouse worker is underpaid on 1 July 2026. That is before the October change, so the original deadline is 30 September 2026. They notify Acas on 20 September and receive their certificate on 5 October. The 15 days from 21 September through 5 October do not count, taking the stopped-clock deadline to 15 October. That falls within one month after Day B, so the final deadline is 5 November 2026.

Contacting Acas after the original limit has expired does not bring it back. A tribunal may accept some late claims, but the tests are strict. Unfair dismissal and wage deduction claims generally require you to show that claiming in time was not reasonably practicable, then claim within a further reasonable period. Discrimination claims use the discretionary just and equitable test. Neither is a reason to wait.

The tribunal must receive the claim by 11:59pm UK time on the deadline date. Weekends and bank holidays do not give you an extra working day. Equal pay and statutory redundancy pay have their own six-month rules and are excluded here. Interim relief can have a separate seven-day deadline. This tool does not cover civil court claims, Northern Ireland, repeated certificates or employer-started conciliation. If you notified Acas before the relevant event, get individual advice.

Continuing acts and series of deductions can move the relevant date. Get advice early from the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100, your union, Citizens Advice or a law centre. Read our guide to employment tribunal procedures for the next steps, or return to all calculators.

Law checked on 8 October 2026 against Acas employment tribunal time limits and Employment Rights Act 1996, section 207B. The calculator gives an estimate from the dates you enter, not a ruling on whether your claim is in time.