Employment Tribunals Service: Applications

(asked on 24th September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to implement the Law Commission's April 2020 recommendation that the time limit for making an employment tribunal claim be increased from three to six months.


Answered by
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Paul Scully
This question was answered on 2nd October 2020

Time limits for bringing claims in the Employment Tribunals are set out in legislation and in most employment cases, claims must be brought within three months. However in most types of employment claim, the legislation also provides that tribunals have the discretion to extend the time limit if it is satisfied (i) in discrimination claims that it is just and equitable to do so; or (ii) in unfair dismissal and most other employment claims that it was not reasonably practicable to bring the claim within the time limit.

The senior employment tribunal judiciary have published an FAQ to help users understand changes to the current employment tribunal processes during the pandemic, including details on how claims and responses will be handled, and consideration of time limits. If a claim is presented late, a judge may still allow it to proceed. Employment judges will decide based on the individual circumstances of the case and applying the relevant law. The guidance is available on GOV.UK.

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