Time limits
[ch 7: page 282]The time limit for all discrimination cases (except a claim for equal pay – see page 274) is three months (less one day) from the date of the discriminatory act. The correct way of calculating the three-month period is to take the day of the month immediately before the date of the discriminatory act and then go forward three months. There is more information on time limits in Chapter 14.
The first step in any tribunal claim is to submit an Acas Early Conciliation (EC) Notification Form, available from the Acas website. This step is mandatory and must be taken within the time limit for the claim. See Chapter 14 for more information.
Great care must be taken with tribunal time limits, which are very short. In particular, lodging a grievance or waiting for an internal appeal does not “stop the clock” on the three-month time limit. Instead, time continues to run. Legal advice should be taken as soon as possible.
Consultation over extending the three month time limit in discrimination cases
In 2019, the May government consulted over extending the three-month deadline for all claims under the EA 10 from three to six months, matching the existing deadline for an equal pay claim. There are no proposals to extend the deadline for any other types of tribunal claim. The government response to this consultation has not yet been published.