In the majority of Employment Tribunal claims, you have 3 months less 1 day from the date of the alleged breach to submit your claim to the Employment Tribunal. This is known as the limitation date. Knowing when the countdown to limitation has been triggered is not always clear and simple, and it is not uncommon for applicants in the Employment Tribunal to fall foul to limitation dates.

Limitation dates in the Employment Tribunal are generally strictly enforced, meaning if you fail to present your claim to the Tribunal before the expiration of the limitation date, then your claim will be out of time. If this happens, it is at the discretion of the Tribunal whether you will be allowed to proceed with your claim.

The Acas early conciliation process is a useful tool in the arsenal of applicants considering a potential claim in the Employment Tribunal. Applying for the early conciliation process via Acas in early course has the potential to “pause the clock” on your limitation date for up to a period of 12 weeks. This period is allowed in order to facilitate any potential settlement between the parties before the need to issue a claim in the Employment Tribunal arises.

Before engaging Acas, it is expected that applicants will have:

• Raised the issue informally with their employer
• Raised a formal grievance with their employer
• Appealed the grievance at the earliest opportunity

However, it is extremely important to note that raising the problem internally with your employer will not stop the clock on the limitation from running.

Very often, employees will attempt to exhaust their employer’s internal grievance and appeals procedure without considering the potential consequences of doing so. This might include appealing a grievance through multiple tiers. Depending on the nature of the grievance, this process can take a long time, all the while running down the clock on limitation.

When it becomes apparent your grievance or disciplinary has not been dealt with correctly or fairly, and it is unlikely to be resolved correctly, fairly and on time, this would be the appropriate time to engage Acas.

Whilst it is good practise to exhaust your employer’s internal procedures, this should not be at the expense of protecting your claim. It is important to remember that once Acas has been engaged, you can continue to exhaust your employer’s internal procedures.

If you require compassionate and specialist advice in relation to an employment matter, the Dispute Resolution Team at Mewies Solicitors are on hand to provide you with expert guidance and advice.

Contact a member of our team today on 01756 79900 or at [email protected]