An employment tribunal claim is not a general appeal against unfair treatment at work. The ET1 must identify a legal cause of action within the tribunal’s jurisdiction, brought in time and supported by facts capable of establishing that claim.
Use this guide to separate the facts, the legal route and the practical remedy. Workplace disputes often involve more than one right, so keep each strand distinct.
Key points
- Identify the exact decision, event or omission before choosing a legal label.
- Ask who made the decision and which employer policy, contract term or statutory rule is relied on.
- Preserve contemporaneous evidence and the employer’s reasons before memories and records change.
- Protect Acas and tribunal time limits even while an internal process is continuing.
Diagnosis
First: what exactly happened?
Work out which route fits the facts before deciding what to ask the employer to do. Similar workplace problems can use different legal tests.
| What happened? | What to check |
|---|---|
| You have a workplace problem but do not know the claim | Identify the legal route first: wages, unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, redundancy, working time or another jurisdiction. |
| Internal processes are ongoing | Check limitation now. Grievances and appeals do not normally pause the clock. |
| You have an Acas certificate | Use the correct certificate details and calculate the post-conciliation deadline. |
| You are preparing ET1 | Set out the material facts and legal complaints clearly enough for the respondent and tribunal to understand the case. |
Who is responsible?
The employer is responsible for its own employment decisions and processes, even where HR, payroll, occupational health, an external investigator or software supplier is involved. Identify the actual decision-maker and the legal entity that employs you.
Managers and HR may administer a process, but outsourcing advice or relying on a policy does not transfer away the employer’s legal responsibility.
Jurisdiction matters
Tribunals only decide claims Parliament has given them power to hear. Poor management or breach of policy may be evidence, but it is not automatically a freestanding tribunal claim.
Pleading the case
A useful ET1 identifies who did what, when, why it is legally actionable and the remedy sought. It should not depend on the tribunal reconstructing the case from hundreds of pages of attachments.
Evidence and disclosure
After a claim begins, disclosure, witness statements and tribunal orders become central. Keep documents in original form and build a chronology early.
Remedies
Remedies depend on the claim. They can include compensation, repayment of wages, declarations, recommendations, reinstatement or re-engagement in specific contexts.
A tribunal claim needs a legal cause of action, not only unfair treatment.
Employment tribunals decide claims within their jurisdiction. Before drafting an ET1, identify each legal claim, the facts relied on for that claim, the respondent, the remedy sought and the relevant time limit.
Most claims currently still use the pre-October time limit.
For workplace problems happening before 1 October 2026, the existing three-month time limit generally continues to apply to the majority of claims. From 1 October 2026, the majority move to six months for problems happening on or after that date. Some claims already have different periods, and specialist deadlines can be much shorter.
Early conciliation usually comes first.
You normally need to notify Acas and obtain the relevant early conciliation certificate before presenting the tribunal claim. The time-limit calculation is affected by early conciliation, so keep the notification and certificate dates and do not guess the deadline.
Build the ET1 from a claim map.
A strong claim form separates claims from evidence. Use headings for each cause of action, concise particulars, dates, and the core facts. Preserve a fuller chronology and evidence index separately.
- Identify the claimant and correct legal respondent.
- State the legal claim or claims.
- Set out the core facts in chronological order.
- Explain which facts support which claim.
- Keep remedy and loss calculations separate from liability facts.
Tribunal is not an appeal against HR.
The tribunal does not simply re-run the employer’s grievance or disciplinary process. It applies the relevant legal tests to the claims before it. An inadequate internal outcome can be evidence, but it is not itself the cause of action in every case.
A good ET1 is particular enough to define the case.
Set out the material facts in chronological order and connect them to the legal claims. Identify the key actors, dates and decisions. Avoid burying the cause of action inside dozens of pages of correspondence; documents can be dealt with later through disclosure and evidence.
- State the legal claims you are bringing.
- Give enough facts for the respondent to understand the case it must answer.
- Identify important dates, especially dismissal or discriminatory acts.
- Avoid alleging fraud, dishonesty or discrimination without a factual basis.
- Keep a separate loss calculation and evidence file.
Costs do not normally follow the event in the same routine way as ordinary civil litigation, but tribunals do have costs powers in defined circumstances. Do not treat the tribunal as risk-free or as an HR appeal body.
Acas early conciliation is part of the limitation calculation.
Most prospective claimants must notify Acas before presenting the tribunal claim. Early conciliation can pause the limitation clock and the certificate is normally needed for the ET1. The extension calculation can be technical, so keep the date Acas was notified, the certificate date and the certificate number.
Do not wait for the grievance outcome.
Internal HR proceedings do not automatically pause tribunal time. Notify Acas within the applicable period even if an appeal, grievance or settlement discussion is continuing.
September 2026 has an unusually important time-limit transition.
As at 9 September 2026, most tribunal claims whose limitation period starts before 1 October 2026 remain subject to the current three-month-minus-one-day limit. From 1 October 2026, most claims whose limitation period starts on or after that date move to six months minus one day. Acas expressly warns that the new limit only applies where the time limit starts on or after 1 October.
Statutory redundancy and equal-pay claims already have different limitation rules, and specialist applications can be much shorter. Whistleblowing interim relief, for example, must be applied for within seven days of the effective date of termination.
Start with a claim map, not an account of everything that went wrong.
An employment tribunal determines legal claims. Before drafting an ET1, identify each cause of action, the legal status required, the key facts, the date the cause of action arose, the remedy sought and the evidence supporting it. A workplace experience can feel generally unfair without falling within a tribunal cause of action.
| Possible claim | Core factual question |
|---|---|
| Unfair dismissal | What was the reason, what process was followed and did the qualifying rules apply? |
| Discrimination | What protected characteristic / protected act and what prohibited treatment is alleged? |
| Unlawful deduction | What wages were due, what was paid and what authorised the deduction? |
| Whistleblowing | What protected disclosure was made and what dismissal/detriment followed because of it? |
| Breach of contract | What contractual term was breached and is the tribunal route available in the circumstances? |
What can you realistically ask for?
Choose a remedy that matches the problem. Internal processes can often correct a decision or record; statutory compensation and tribunal remedies depend on the legal claim.
- Claim-specific compensation or repayment
- Declarations
- Recommendations in appropriate discrimination cases
- Reinstatement/re-engagement where available
- Interest and other statutory elements where applicable
Evidence worth keeping
Preserve the original record where possible. A short, dated evidence set is usually more useful than an unstructured dump of documents.
Common employer responses - and what they do not necessarily prove
| Employer says | ConsumerWise view |
|---|---|
| “The tribunal will investigate everything for you.” | No. Parties must identify their case and comply with orders; the tribunal determines the dispute. |
| “Small value means evidence and procedure do not matter.” | Employment tribunals are intended to be accessible, but evidence, limitation and case-management orders still matter. |
| “If the employer broke its policy, you automatically win.” | A policy breach can be relevant but must connect to a legal claim within jurisdiction. |
| “You can wait for the grievance outcome before filing.” | That can be dangerous. Protect limitation separately. |
What to say next
Keep the next response short and issue-led. State the decision you challenge, the evidence or rule you rely on, the specific answer you still need and the remedy you want. If the employer relies on a policy or business reason, ask it to identify the relevant provision and explain how it applies to your facts.
Important overlaps and exceptions
- County court may have jurisdiction over some contractual claims, particularly after employment ends, with different limits and remedies.
- Judicial review is not the ordinary route for workplace disputes.
- Appeals from tribunals generally concern errors of law and go to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Write down the event or decision, the date, who made it and the practical impact.
- Identify the legal or contractual right that may apply instead of relying only on the word “unfair”.
- Collect the smallest evidence set that proves the key facts and the employer’s stated reason.
- Use the relevant internal request, grievance, appeal or complaint route and ask for a specific remedy.
- Check Acas and tribunal limitation separately. Do not let a slow internal process cause an external deadline to expire.
Escalation and time limits
Internal procedures can be important, but they do not normally stop an employment tribunal time limit. As at 11 September 2026, most claims whose limitation period starts before 1 October 2026 still use the existing three-month-minus-one-day framework. For most relevant time limits starting on or after 1 October 2026, the period increases to six months minus one day.
Acas early conciliation can affect calculation of the deadline if Acas is notified in time. Some claims use different limits, and interim relief in qualifying dismissal cases can require action within only 7 days. Always check the specific claim rather than applying a general period mechanically.
Official sources
Check the current source material.
- GOV.UK: Employment tribunals ↗
- GOV.UK: Make a claim / ET1 ↗
- Acas: Early conciliation ↗
- Acas: employment tribunal time limits ↗
- GOV.UK: Employment Rights Act implementation timeline ↗
ConsumerWise provides general information rather than individual legal advice. Check current rules, dates and eligibility against the official source before acting.