When a redundancy can be challenged
Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissal — but the process still has to be fair. A genuine redundancy means the role is disappearing; a fair process means honest selection criteria fairly applied, proper consultation, and consideration of alternative roles. GOV.UK is explicit that you cannot be selected for redundancy because of age, gender, disability or pregnancy — selection on those grounds is discrimination, not redundancy.
Common grounds for challenge include: the 'redundancy' role being re-advertised, selection pools built around a person rather than a role, scoring that can't be explained, no meaningful consultation, and redundancy used to remove someone who raised concerns. If any of that matches your situation, get advice early — the deadlines below are unforgiving.
Step one is Acas, not the tribunal
You cannot go straight to an employment tribunal: per Acas, a worker must first notify Acas, which offers early conciliation — a free process where a conciliator tries to help you and your employer settle without a claim. Many disputes end here, often with a COT3 settlement (a conciliated agreement with a similar effect to a settlement agreement).
Early conciliation matters for the clock as well: notifying Acas pauses the claim time limit while conciliation runs. But the pause only helps if you started in time — notify Acas within the time limit, not near the end of it.
The time limits — and the October 2026 change
The time limit for most employment tribunal claims, including unfair dismissal, is currently 3 months minus 1 day (Acas), usually counted from the date your employment ended. Miss it and the tribunal can only hear the claim in narrow circumstances.
From October 2026 this changes: under the Employment Rights Act 2025, time limits for making a claim to an employment tribunal increase to 6 months (Acas). If your dismissal date falls near the transition, do not assume the longer limit applies to you — take advice on which regime covers your case, and work to the shorter deadline until told otherwise.
What else the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes
Two further changes are worth knowing if you've just been made redundant. Since 6 April 2026, the maximum protective award for an employer's failure to collectively consult (20+ redundancies) has doubled to 180 days' pay (Acas). And from 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection drops from 2 years to 6 months (Acas) — which won't help a dismissal that has already happened, but changes the calculation in your next role.
None of this page is a substitute for advice on your specific case. Acas's helpline is free; employment solicitors will often review a redundancy situation at fixed cost; and if a settlement agreement is on the table, the law requires you to get independent advice anyway. Use the deadline arithmetic above to decide how fast to move — then move.
Sorting the paperwork is half the job. The other half is the next role.
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Sources for this page (4) — every claim above traces to one of these
- Acas — Making a claim to an employment tribunal
- Acas — Employment Rights Act 2025 (implementation timeline)
- GOV.UK — Redundancy: your rights — Redundancy pay
- Acas — Your rights during redundancy
Details verified against these sources as of 2026-08-15. Employment law changes — the Employment Rights Act 2025 is rolling out through 2026 and 2027 — and your contract or your employer's own policies may give you more than the statutory minimums described here. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice: for your specific situation, use the free Acas helpline or take independent legal advice (which the law requires anyway before a settlement agreement is binding).