Tribunal deadline now 6 months: 3 numbers to weigh first

The time limit for most employment tribunal claims in England, Wales and Scotland went from three months to six on 1 October 2026 (Employment Rights Act 2025, Lewis Silkin, 24 September 2026). That sounds like good news if you are a dyslexic employee weighing a claim. It is, with a catch: the extra months change when you must file, not what you can prove.

This article sets out three numbers that shape the decision to settle, file or let it go. They are the deadline, the money and the time. It covers UK law first, with a short US note near the end.

What changed on 1 October 2026

The Employment Rights Act 2025 extends the limit to six months for most claims, including unfair dismissal and discrimination. The new limit generally applies where the act you are complaining about happened on or after 1 October 2026 (Lewis Silkin, 24 September 2026).

Lewis Silkin gives a worked example. An employee dismissed on 15 October 2026 has until 14 April 2027 to bring an unfair dismissal claim, where the old limit would have ended on 14 January 2027. ACAS early conciliation pauses that clock while it runs.

Early conciliation can now last up to 12 weeks, up from six weeks since 1 December 2025 (DWF, February 2026). After ACAS issues its certificate, you have one month to submit the claim (Lewis Silkin, September 2026).

If the act you are complaining about happened before 1 October, treat three months as your deadline until ACAS or a solicitor tells you otherwise. A series of linked acts can change the date, which is why the dates matter so much.

So what for you: write down the exact date of the act today, then count forward three months and six months from it.

Number one: the extra months do not preserve your evidence

Dyslexia often involves weaker working memory and slower processing of written detail. In Young v YTL Construction, a judge recorded in July 2026 that the claimant was disabled by dyslexia, including weak working memory and processing speed (Employment Tribunal case 6008214/2025, judgment 22 July 2026). If that describes you, a six-month gap can blur who said what, and when.

Records fade too. Meetings that were never minuted, emails that get archived and managers who move on all shrink what you can show. In Rashid v PHSO, a missing spreadsheet and an unminuted meeting sat at the centre of the dispute (Employment Tribunal case 2424622/2017, reported by Thrive Law, July 2026).

Do the timeline in one sitting. Dictate it if typing is slow: date, what happened, who was there, what you asked for, what came back. Forward any key emails to a personal address only if your contract and employer policy allow it, and ask a solicitor or ACAS if you are unsure.

So what for you: a timeline written within a week of an event is worth more than a better one written in month five.

Number two: what awards actually look like

Injury to feelings awards sit in three bands. From 6 April 2026 the lower band is £1,300 to £12,600, the middle band £12,600 to £37,700 and the upper band £37,700 to £62,900 (Presidential Guidance, ninth addendum, reported by Employment Cases Update, 31 March 2026). Lost earnings and other losses are calculated separately.

Real outcomes cover a wide range. A Tube driver whose HR manager blamed him for ignoring an email footer was awarded £3,924 in May 2026 (Law360 UK, May 2026). A Dundee tribunal ordered Fife Employment Access Trust to pay £96,128 combined to a dyslexic programme manager and her support worker, after finding it fabricated allegations and withheld wages (The Courier, 18 February 2026).

Winning is also not all or nothing. Mr Debont won unfair dismissal in full and parts of two discrimination claims, but lost his reasonable adjustments claim because he never told his employer that Dragon was not working for him (Debont v Marsh Farm Futures, decision of 31 October 2023). He won 3 of 7 outcomes and the tribunal ordered a separate remedy hearing.

So what for you: find which band your facts resemble, then ask what you would accept to stop the dispute, before you ask what you could win.

Number three: the years

Debont's events began in 2021 and the decision came on 31 October 2023 (Third Sector, 24 November 2023). In NSL v Bean, the dismissal happened on 26 June 2019 and the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled on 15 September 2026, seven years later. Claims linked to neurodiversity almost doubled from 265 in 2020 to 517 in 2025 (HM Courts and Tribunals Service data, Irwin Mitchell via Personnel Today, 20 February 2026).

The backlog adds to the wait. Lewis Silkin reports 537,000 open tribunal claims at the end of the first quarter of 2026, with 25,000 received and 10,000 disposed of that quarter (Lewis Silkin, September 2026).

A claim that takes years also means years of retelling the same events. For a person who finds written and spoken recall tiring, that cost is real, and it belongs in the decision beside the money.

So what for you: ask yourself whether you would still want this outcome in three years, and whether you can carry the process that long.

Settle or file: how the numbers fit together

ACAS early conciliation is free, and an ACAS conciliator will contact the other side to see whether it will talk. Your employer can say no, and then you get the certificate and the one-month window. Contacting ACAS does not commit you to a claim.

If you do settle, the agreement usually needs advice from an independent adviser before it can waive a discrimination claim. Get that advice before you sign. Check what the agreement says about references, adjustments you still need and any confidentiality clause that stops you describing your own dyslexia to a future employer.

In the US the clock is shorter. An EEOC charge generally has to be filed within 180 calendar days, extended to 300 days where a state or local agency enforces a similar law (EEOC, eeoc.gov timeliness guidance, October 2026). Our ADA accommodations guide covers the US process.

So what for you: contact ACAS well before month three; the six-month limit gives you room, and early contact gives you information.

The call

If your act was before 1 October 2026, count three months and contact ACAS now. If it was after, treat month three as your own deadline anyway, because the evidence and the energy run out before the law does.

If you are still employed, put a request in writing first: the task, the effect of your dyslexia on it and the change you need. Our disclosure guide and Access to Work calculator help you build that email. A written request leaves a dated record, and a verbal one leaves you proving a conversation.

Our articles cover the recent tribunal cases in more detail.

If you are leaving or already gone, write the timeline this week, book the ACAS call and ask what you would settle for. Then pick a number and stick to it.

So what for you: tonight, write the date of the act, the date three months on and the date six months on, and put all three in your calendar.