Thinking about making an employment tribunal claim? Describe your situation and get instant guidance on the process, time limits and what to expect.
The employment tribunal time limit for most claims is 3 months less 1 day from the act complained of. You must contact ACAS for Early Conciliation before filing — this pauses the clock. For redundancy pay claims the limit is 6 months.
The compensatory award for unfair dismissal is capped at £123,543 (2025/26) or 52 weeks' pay, whichever is lower. Discrimination awards are uncapped. Tribunal fees were abolished in 2017.
Key areas covered: employment tribunal, time limit, ACAS Early Conciliation, compensation cap, unfair dismissal, discrimination. Verified against GOV.UK.
Free to use: Run any checker and read your full results — no account needed. Register free to download your results as a PDF report and access the Letters generator.
Advertisement
✉️ Need to write a formal letter?
Use our free Letter Before Claim (ET) template — professionally drafted, verified against GOV.UK and ACAS.
✉️ Get This Letter Free →UK workers and residents have significant legal protections covering employment, housing, benefits, consumer rights and more. These rights are enshrined in legislation including the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Equality Act 2010, the Housing Act 1988, and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
UK Work Rights provides free, plain English guidance to help you understand where you stand. Our AI-powered checkers are regularly updated against GOV.UK, ACAS, Shelter, and Citizens Advice to ensure accuracy. We cover over 70 free AI rights checkers and 36 guides across employment, housing, benefits, consumer, driving, family and more.
While our guidance covers the vast majority of common situations, complex or high-stakes cases may benefit from professional advice. For employment issues contact ACAS (free) or the Citizens Advice helpline on 0800 144 8848. For housing, Shelter can help on 0808 800 4444.
This guidance is general information only and does not constitute legal advice. UK Work Rights — About us · Privacy · Free letter templates
What you need to know
An employment tribunal is an independent judicial body that hears claims relating to employment rights. It is less formal than a civil court but is still a legal proceeding. There are no fees to bring a claim. You do not need a solicitor to represent you, though it can help for complex cases.
Most employment tribunal claims must be brought within three months less one day of the act you are complaining about. For unfair dismissal this is usually three months from your last day of employment. Missing this deadline is very serious — tribunals have little discretion to extend it. Do not delay.
Before you can submit a tribunal claim, you must first notify ACAS and go through the early conciliation process. This is compulsory. ACAS will contact both parties and try to help you reach a settlement. The conciliation period lasts up to six weeks and importantly stops the three-month clock from running during this time.
Common employment tribunal claims include unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, unauthorised deduction from wages, failure to pay statutory entitlements, and whistleblowing detriment. Each type of claim has its own rules, time limits and potential remedy.
For unfair dismissal, compensation consists of a basic award (calculated like statutory redundancy pay, capped at £751 per week) and a compensatory award (capped at the lower of one year's pay or £123,543 as of April 2026). Discrimination awards are uncapped and can include injury to feelings. Reinstatement and re-engagement are also possible remedies.
After submitting your claim, the respondent has 28 days to respond. There is usually a preliminary hearing to clarify issues. The main hearing involves both parties presenting evidence and cross-examining witnesses. Most hearings are decided by a legally-qualified judge, sometimes sitting with two lay members. Around 70 percent of cases settle before the final hearing.
This guidance is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Always verify current figures and legislation on GOV.UK or seek professional advice for your specific situation.
Advertisement
✉️ Need to write a formal letter?
Use our free letter generator — 192 professionally drafted UK legal letter templates, no account needed.
✉️ Open Letter Generator →Describe your situation and we'll guide you through the tribunal process
Tip: Focus on one issue at a time for the clearest answer. If you have multiple issues, run them separately for a full picture on each one.
Include how long you have worked there, what happened, and what you need to know.
Free · No data stored for anonymous checks · Guidance only, not legal advice
Analysing your situation...
Checking against current UK employment law
✉️ Draft an ACAS-compliant letter using this result
Your Letter Before ET Claim is ready to generate — free, no account needed.
✉️ Generate My Letter Free →Generating...
UK Work Rights is completely free and always will be. If this guidance helped you, a small donation helps keep the site running and updated for everyone.
100% goes to the development team who built and maintain this free service. No pressure — the guidance is always free.