Section 129: Time limits
Effect
420.A person who wishes to bring a claim for breach of an equality clause or rule or to apply for a declaration about the effect of such a clause or rule must normally do so within six months of the end of the employment contract. In certain circumstances, this section gives a claimant more time to make a claim. This applies where the employer conceals certain information from the claimant or where the claimant has an incapacity (as defined in section 141). Members of the armed forces have an additional three months in which to bring a claim because they must first make a complaint under the service complaint procedures.
Background
421.This section replaces similar provisions in previous legislation. Time limits provide certainty by requiring claims to be brought within specified periods and also take into account factors which may affect a claimant’s ability to assert his or her claim.
Example
A former member of the armed forces wishes to bring a claim about her terms of service. She first makes a service complaint and then brings a claim for breach of an equality clause in an employment tribunal. The claim for breach of an equality clause must be brought in an employment tribunal within nine months after her period of service ended.