Six-month tribunal time limit: how long to keep leaver records

When someone leaves on difficult terms, their file tends to stay wherever it was last opened: a folder on the shared drive, a manager's inbox, a desk drawer. Most owners have a rough sense of how long to hold on to it before tidying up.

That sense needs resetting. From 1 October 2026 a former employee is scheduled to have six months, not three, to start most tribunal claims. This guide sets out what changes, which leavers it applies to, and how to write a retention schedule that keeps what a claim would need without keeping everything indefinitely. The wider timetable is on our Employment Rights Act key dates page.

Check what changes on 1 October 2026

As checked on 21 September 2026, regulations made on 1 September 2026 bring the longer tribunal time limits in the Employment Rights Act 2025 into force on 1 October 2026, so the change is scheduled and not yet in force. Commencement regulations, SI 2026/954. The government's employer guidance says the limit for the majority of claims will rise from three months to six, in line with the limit that already applies to statutory redundancy pay and equal pay. Government guidance on tribunal time limits. Acas describes the new general limit as six months minus one day. Acas on employment tribunal time limits.

Two further instruments, made on 6 July 2026, cover claims the Act does not reach. The first extends the limit for complaints under seven sets of regulations, including those protecting part-time workers, fixed-term employees and zero-hours workers from exclusivity terms. SI 2026/758. The second extends the limit for breach of contract claims, such as unpaid notice pay, in England and Wales only. SI 2026/759.

Scotland has its own date for contract claims. The government's guidance says the change for breach of employment contract claims in Scotland is due on 9 November 2026. It needs an order from the Scottish Ministers, which was still in draft before the Scottish Parliament when we checked on 21 September 2026, so that date can still change. Draft Scotland order. Every other change described here takes effect on 1 October across England, Scotland and Wales. Government guidance on tribunal time limits.

The same guidance asks employers to update any policy or handbook that refers to a three-month limit. It is a small job, and worth doing before 1 October.

Work out which leavers it applies to

The longer limit does not reach back. The regulations say it does not apply where the "relevant date" falls before 1 October 2026. SI 2026/954, regulation 4.

The relevant date depends on the claim. For unfair dismissal it is the effective date of termination. For discrimination it is the date of the act, or the end of the period where conduct extended over time. For deductions from wages it is the date of the payment, or the last payment in a series. SI 2026/954, Schedule. The contract claims order uses the effective date of termination in the same way. SI 2026/759.

In practice, someone whose employment ended on or before 30 September 2026 keeps the three-month limit for an unfair dismissal claim. Someone whose employment ends on or after 1 October 2026 has six months.

Watch the notice period. Acas explains that the effective date of termination is typically the final day of notice, or the dismissal date if no notice is given, not the day the decision was given. Acas on employment tribunal time limits. A person told in September who works their notice into October falls under the new limit.

Add the Acas pause to the calendar

Before making most claims, a person must notify Acas for early conciliation. Acas says the time limit is paused from that notification until conciliation ends, provided the person notifies Acas within the original limit. Acas on employment tribunal time limits. Early conciliation can last up to 12 weeks, and after it ends the person has at least one month from the certificate to make the claim. Acas on how early conciliation works.

So the last day a claim could arrive is later than six months after someone leaves. Add six months, up to 12 weeks of conciliation and a month after the certificate, and a claim could, at the outside, still arrive around ten months after the effective date of termination. Tribunals can accept some claims late, although Acas notes that in most cases time limits are strictly enforced. Acas on employment tribunal time limits.

If Acas contacts you about early conciliation, or a claim arrives, the file is needed until the matter ends, however long that takes.

Sort records by the rule that sets their period

The law requires some employment records to be kept for fixed periods. None of those periods changes on 1 October.

Scroll across the table if needed.

The rest of a leaver's file has no fixed legal period: disciplinary and grievance records, probation and appraisal notes, the dismissal letter, emails about the exit, and interview notes for people you did not hire. The ICO says data protection law sets no specific time limits for workers' records; the period is yours to decide and justify. It says you should set up a retention schedule listing each type of record, what you use it for and how long you intend to keep it, and should not take a one-size-fits-all approach. ICO on keeping employment records. The ICO notes that this guidance, and its storage limitation guidance below, are under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act.

On legal claims, the ICO's storage limitation guidance says you should consider whether you need information to defend a possible claim, but should not keep data indefinitely "just in case", and should delete it when such a claim could no longer arise. Its example: unless there is a clear business reason, an employer should not keep records of unsuccessful applicants beyond the statutory period in which a claim from the recruitment process may be brought. ICO on storage limitation.

A longer claim window is a reason to keep these records for longer. It is not a reason to keep them for good.

Write the leaver schedule and give it an owner

A practical approach is to set a review date for each leaver's file on the day they go, rather than deciding later. A review about a year after the effective date of termination covers the six-month limit, the conciliation pause and the month after it, with a margin for a late claim to reach you; record that reason in the schedule so the period is justified rather than assumed. For unsuccessful applicants, the same sum runs from the date you told them the outcome, since a recruitment discrimination claim is also scheduled to have six months. SI 2026/954, Schedule.

At the review date, check whether Acas has been in touch or a claim has arrived. If not, delete or anonymise what was kept only for a possible claim. Records with their own statutory period, such as holiday and payroll records, stay until that period ends. If a claim is live, keep the file until it concludes.

Give the job one owner, usually whoever keeps the personnel files. Three things make it work:

• Managers send interview notes, probation reviews and exit emails to the central file, not their own inbox. Our probation checklist sets out which review notes to keep.
• The retention schedule sits in one document, with a row for each record type and its period.
• A simple log shows each leaver, their review date and what was deleted and when.

That log is the record that shows the schedule is being followed. It also answers the question an owner is most likely to face: can we delete this yet?

This does not remove the need to handle each exit fairly, and the schedule does not decide what happens in a dispute. If Acas contacts you about a former employee, or an exit already looks contentious, seek appropriate advice before deleting anything or responding. Add the handbook update and the schedule to your action list for the 2026 and 2027 changes; our guide to putting employment changes into practice shows how to keep that list honest about what is in force and what is still scheduled.

Common questions

When do employment tribunal time limits change to six months?

On 1 October 2026, under regulations made on 1 September 2026, for most claims in England, Scotland and Wales. Breach of employment contract claims in Scotland are due to follow on 9 November 2026, under an order still in draft when checked on 21 September 2026. SI 2026/954; Government guidance on tribunal time limits; Draft Scotland order.

Does the six-month time limit apply to dismissals before 1 October 2026?

Not where employment ended before 1 October 2026. The longer limit applies only where the relevant date is on or after 1 October 2026. For unfair dismissal that is the effective date of termination, usually the last day of notice, so someone whose employment ended on or before 30 September 2026 keeps the three-month limit. SI 2026/954, regulation 4; Acas on employment tribunal time limits.

Does Acas early conciliation extend the tribunal time limit?

It pauses it. Acas says the limit stops from the date the person notifies Acas until conciliation ends, provided they notify within the original limit. Conciliation can last up to 12 weeks, and the person then has at least one month from the certificate to claim. Acas on employment tribunal time limits; Acas on how early conciliation works.

How long should an employer keep records after an employee leaves?

Some records have fixed legal periods, such as six years for holiday and minimum wage records and three years after the tax year for payroll. For the rest, the ICO says data protection law sets no specific limit: set a retention schedule, keep what a possible claim would need, and delete it when a claim could no longer arise. ICO on keeping employment records; Acas on holiday records; ICO on storage limitation.