Extending time limits

Extending time limits

If a claimant has failed to present their claim to the employment tribunal within the applicable time limit, there are two main categories of tribunal discretion under which the tribunal may extend the time limit so as to accept the claim out of time:

Not reasonably practicable

This test applies to unfair dismissal and most other employment rights claims. If the employment tribunal finds that it was not reasonably practicable for the claimant to present the claim in time, it will then consider whether the claim was nevertheless presented "within such further period as the tribunal considers reasonable". 

An example of a situation in which a employment tribunal may decide to extend the time limit is if the claimant had a serious illness and was therefore unable to present their claim in time.  Whether the illness is serious enough to satisfy the rest will be a question of fact for the tribunal.

An example of a situation in which a tribunal is unlikely to extend the time limit is if the claimant’s adviser was at fault and wrongly advised the claimant on the time limit.  Another example is where the claimant had problems with a printer.

Just and equitable

This test applies in discrimination and statutory redundancy payment claims and gives employment tribunals a wider discretion to allow an extension of time. 

Examples of situations in which a employment tribunal may decide to extend the time limit under this test are where the delay was caused by the receipt of incorrect legal advice, or where the delay was caused by the pursuit of internal procedures (e.g. an internal grievance procedure).

However, it is important to note that each case is decided on its own facts, so a employment adviser should always exercise caution when giving advice on the likelihood of success of the request to extend time.