The Law Society has joined calls from others within the legal profession for the time limits for bringing employment tribunal cases to be increased from 3 months less 1 day to 6 months less 1 day.
Time Limits
Currently, the time limits (known as the 'limitation' period) for bringing most employment tribunal claims, such as unfair dismissal and discrimination cases, is just 3 months less 1 day. With respect to some cases, such as equal pay and redundancy pay claims, the time limits are 6 months less 1 day. However, many within the legal profession are now calling for the time limits across the board to be increased to 6 months less 1 day for all claims, as this would give Claimant's more time to resolve cases without the need for employment tribunal proceedings to be commenced. It would also help to reduce the workload of the employment tribunal service, which has seen a huge increase in the number of cases that have been brought since the abolition of tribunal fees. The tribunal service is also likely to see a further surge in cases as a result of the colossal number of coronavirus related redundancies that are likely to take place, and it has built up a further enormous backlog of work as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. The increase in the workload of the Tribunal now means that many cases cannot be heard for more than a year, with some cases having to wait for up to 18-24 months to get to a final hearing. This has the obvious disadvantage that parties and witnesses to such cases will have more difficulty in remembering key aspects of the case
Law Society
Back on the 29th April 2020, the Law Commission called for the time limits for bringing all types of employment tribunal claim to be extended to 6 months less 1 day. Accordingly, at the beginning of July 2020, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) requested the view of the Law Society on the proposal.
The Law Society in its response stated that: "We strongly support the Law Commission’s proposal to raise the time limit for bringing all claims to the employment tribunal to within six months."
Speaking on behalf of the Law Society, its president, Simon Davis, said: "Different limitation periods can often cause confusion, especially when parties are not legally represented. The three-month time limit can also force claimants to file claims even if they are still open to a negotiated settlement. Genuine mistakes around limitation can result in individuals being barred from seeking justice in their case. This is particularly relevant to unrepresented claimants who may be involved in long internal grievance and disciplinary procedures, and, because, they are not entitled to or cannot afford legal assistance, find that they miss short employment tribunal limitation deadlines."
