Employment Tribunal Deadlines Are About to Double — What Small Business Employers Must Do Before October

Small business owners have three months, not six months, to sort out their employment paperwork before a significant change to how long an employee has to bring a tribunal claim against them. From 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims doubles from three months to six months, under regulations approved by both Houses of Parliament, according to Thompsons Trade Union Law.

What's changing

The Employment Tribunal (Extension of Time Limits) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026 extend the time limit for a wide range of claims — including claims not originally covered by the Employment Rights Act 2025, such as breach of contract claims in England and Wales, per VWV Solicitors. Crucially, there's a transitional rule: the six-month limit applies only where the act or failure complained of falls on or after 1 October 2026. Anything that happened wholly before that date still falls under the old three-month limit.

Why this matters for small employers specifically

Larger organisations typically have HR teams and employment law advice on retainer that flag and resolve disputes quickly. Small businesses, where the owner often handles HR alongside everything else, are more exposed to two compounding risks under the new rules:

1. A longer "live" period for disputes. An employee who felt unfairly treated in, say, October 2026 now has until April 2027 to lodge a claim, rather than January 2027 — nearly doubling the window during which an employer needs to retain evidence and be prepared to respond.
2. Evidence decay. Witness memories fade and staff turn over. A claim brought five months after an incident is materially harder to defend than one brought two months after, simply because records and recollections degrade.

Checklist: what to do before 1 October 2026

1. Tighten your record-keeping now. Document disciplinary conversations, performance reviews, and dismissal reasoning in writing at the time, not retrospectively — you may need to defend a claim brought many months later.
2. Review your grievance and disciplinary procedures against Acas's statutory Code of Practice to ensure they're fit for purpose under the wider Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms.
3. Extend your data retention policy. If you currently delete HR records after a short period, extend retention to account for the longer claim window.
4. Brief any managers who handle staff issues on the new deadline so they understand disputes can resurface much later than before.
5. Check your employment practices liability insurance covers the extended exposure period, and confirm with your insurer or broker whether premiums are affected.
6. Note the date-based cutoff. Only incidents from 1 October 2026 onward trigger the six-month limit — this isn't retroactive, so don't panic about historic issues falling under the new rule.

The bigger picture

This sits within a broader set of Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms rolling out through 2026, alongside changes such as day-one statutory sick pay and paternity leave rights that took effect in April. Employers should treat this as one more item in an ongoing compliance calendar rather than an isolated change.

Key Numbers

• Old time limit: 3 months
• New time limit (from 1 October 2026): 6 months
• Effective date: 1 October 2026 (Thompsons)

Sources

• Thompsons Trade Union Law
• VWV Solicitors
• legislation.gov.uk — Extension of Time Limits Regulations 2026
• Acas — Employment Rights Act 2025

Educational content only — not financial advice.