Transitional rules

Sunset clause on tribunal claims

Updated 21 October 2026

There are three concrete rights in this story. First, the default tribunal time limit from 30 October 2026 is six months from the act complained of (or three months from the certificate date for early conciliation), up from three months today. Second, that extension only runs for a fixed period written into the Bill as a sunset clause, after which the old three-month limit is meant to snap back unless the Government lays regulations to renew it. Third, a transitional schedule will keep the old three-month rule in force for some people whose cause of action arose before the commencement date, which is the practical trap most readers will want to plan around.

What is the sunset clause on the new six-month tribunal time limit

The Employment Rights Bill 2024/25, introduced on 10 October 2024 and carried over from the last Parliament, lengthens the standard tribunal time limit in section 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the parallel provisions across the Equality Act 2010, the Working Time Regulations 1998, the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, and the Employment Agencies Act 1973. From 30 October 2026, the new default is six months from the act complained of, with the early conciliation window still capable of extending the deadline by up to (broadly) the same period, leaving you with a working ceiling close to nine months in many cases.

What the Government has added, in the schedule and the accompanying Keeling schedules, is a sunset clause. The new six-month limit is to run for a defined period, and after that point the relevant sections revert to three months unless the Secretary of State makes regulations to keep the longer period alive. The Bill gives Parliament the power to set the end date and the renewal mechanism. The current published text indicates that an order under the draft clause must be approved by both Houses before the sunset bites, which is intended to force a fresh look at the policy every few years rather than letting the longer limit ossify.

For you as an employee, this matters because the rules on the day you are dismissed, the day your final pay is calculated, or the day the last discriminatory act happens decide which regime you fall under. The transitional schedule is not optional and is not guidance; it is the part of the commencement order that tells tribunals which law to apply to a claim presented in November 2026, December 2026, or further out.

Who is caught by the old three-month limit after 30 October 2026

The transitional rules that are expected to take effect alongside commencement work on the date of the act you are complaining about, not the date you issue. Where the act (or the last act in a series) is dated on or before 29 October 2026, the claim will usually be brought under the old three-month regime even if you present the claim form (ET1) in 2027. Where the act is dated on or after 30 October 2026, the new six-month limit applies.

Practical examples. If your employer docks training costs from your final pay on 14 October 2026, you are on the old clock. You have until 13 January 2027 (subject to ACAS early conciliation extension) to issue. If the same conduct happens on 4 November 2026, the clock is six months, and the same January deadline becomes a May 2027 deadline. The same logic applies to unfair dismissal, unlawful deductions from wages, the Working Time Regulations holiday pay shortfall, whistleblowing detriments, and the discrimination sections of the Equality Act 2010.

Two wrinkles are worth knowing. First, the Equality Act uses a 'series of acts' rule for continuing conduct, and an act in October 2026 followed by a further act in November 2026 is likely to bring the whole claim under the new regime. Second, the three-month limit for the issue fee, the 'presented' date, and ACAS certificates all keep their current shape, so do not read 'sunset' as meaning the procedural rules are about to relax.

What you can do before the cut-off if your act is dated October 2026

If you can place the act in October 2026, treat 29 October 2026 as the last day of the old regime for the purpose of issuing. That does not mean waiting until 29 October; ACAS early conciliation takes on average three to four weeks at the moment, and longer in busy periods, and you must hold a certificate before you can present an ET1.

Step by step. Start an ACAS notification the same week the act happens; the clock pauses from the day after you notify, not from the day you decide to. Keep a single timeline with dates, screenshots, payslips, and the names of any witnesses. If the act is discrimination or whistleblowing, write a short, dated protected-disclosure or grievance note that names the protected characteristic or the protected disclosure, because the ET1 form will ask you to identify it and the tribunal will weigh what you actually said at the time.

Step two, do not assume the sunset clause will be renewed in your favour. The Government has not said it will lay a renewal order; it has reserved the right to do so. The safest assumption for a borderline claim is to issue under the old rules, then argue on the same facts under the new rules if you miss the renewal cycle. Issuing once protects you twice.

How the sunset clause changes the practical advice for grievances

Many readers have been told to exhaust the internal grievance procedure first. That advice is good but it no longer removes your right to go to ACAS in parallel, and under the new regime the cost of waiting is lower because of the longer clock. Under the old regime the cost of waiting was the three-month deadline itself.

Under the Bill, where a grievance is raised and a written response is provided, the early conciliation period is treated in a particular way and the clock extension is more generous. The detail is set out in the new section 207A ERA 1996 as drafted. The practical effect is that raising a grievance then issuing once the response arrives is, in many cases, a safer path than relying on the statutory grievance uplift at a remedy hearing.

The sunset clause does not change any of that. The grievance uplift under section 38 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended) remains a discretionary 25 percent on the financial award, and the tribunal will still ask whether it was reasonable for you to use the procedure. A weak grievance on a long clock can still cost you 25 percent of the compensation.

What to do in the meantime

Three things, this week, before 30 October 2026.

One, place every act on a dated timeline. Dismissal, last pay date, last discriminatory act, last whistleblowing detriment, last holiday pay shortfall. The dates you can evidence in writing are the dates that matter; the dates you remember are not.

Two, start the ACAS notification if you are anywhere near the boundary. The pause starts the day after you notify. The certificate is what the ET1 form demands, and the certificate number is what the tribunal website will not let you skip. There is no fee to start, no obligation to settle, and no penalty for contacting them early.

Three, write a short, factual grievance or protected-disclosure note that names the legal wrong, names the date, names the person responsible, and asks for a written response. Send it by email with read receipt, keep a copy, and put the date in your timeline. None of this commits you to a claim, and all of it makes a future claim cheaper and stronger.