Disputes & tribunals

Updated 16 September 2026: fifteen days to the six-month time limit. New section on the harassment claims a placed worker can bring against an agency from 30 October 2026, and the file audit that decides most claims. Award enforcement section kept from 19 August.

In brief. Most disputes never reach a tribunal, and the ones that do are usually decided by whether the paperwork was in order. From 1 October 2026 the time limit to bring most tribunal claims doubles from three months to six, so claims arrive later and files have to last longer. From 30 October 2026 a worker you place can claim against you for harassment by a client's staff or customers unless you took all reasonable steps to prevent it, and a breach of the sexual harassment duty can add up to 25% to an award. If an employer loses and does not pay, there is an enforcement route with a penalty of half the award plus interest and public naming. The safe position is the same as ever. Keep clean records, tell workers how to report problems to you, and deal with them early.

Where disputes come from on a recruitment desk

Most agency disputes are about money and paperwork. Unpaid or wrongly calculated wages, holiday pay, unclear terms, arguments about who the employer really is, and problems when an assignment ends. The Fair Work Agency can now enforce several of these rights directly, and its first naming round on 3 September 2026 listed around 660 employers, including businesses that supply staff.

Fifteen days to the six-month time limit

Today a worker usually has three months, less one day, to start a tribunal claim. For acts on or after 1 October 2026 that becomes six months for most claim types, under section 152 and Schedule 12 of the Employment Rights Act 2025. Acts before that date keep the old limit. For breach of contract claims heard in Scotland the change arrives on 9 November 2026. Acas early conciliation still comes first and still pauses the clock.

Two practical effects. You may hear about a claim long after the people involved have moved on, so a quiet three months no longer means a matter is closed. And the evidence has to survive longer and still make sense. A client's timesheet system that overwrites records after 90 days is not your defence. Your own copy is.

New from 30 October: harassment claims that reach the agency

From 30 October 2026 employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, and must not permit harassment of their employees by third parties. For Equality Act purposes a worker you engage under a contract to do work personally is your employee, and the client's staff, customers, patients and visitors are third parties to you. So a temp harassed on a client's site can bring the claim against you, and you are liable unless you can show you took all reasonable steps. The client has its own duties to your worker as a contract worker, so responsibility is shared. Shared is not the same as someone else's.

Where a tribunal upholds a sexual harassment claim and finds the preventative duty was breached, it can increase compensation by up to 25%. For an agency, all reasonable steps means a risk assessment by site type, a policy that covers third parties, workers told at onboarding how to report to you directly, client terms that require the client to report incidents and accept a worker's removal without a fee, an incident log, and training for the consultants who receive reports. The BIOR Agency Compliance Pack carries the client-terms clauses, and this month's masterclass works through both applications.

What a tribunal actually looks at

A tribunal decides on evidence, not impressions. For most agency claims it comes down to eight documents. The terms and the Key Information Document, the pay records, the right to work check with its date, the assignment details and timesheets, the client terms in force that day, any complaint and your written reply, and a note of why the assignment ended and who decided. Complete, dated and consistent, and most claims are weak. Missing or contradictory, and even a fair employer can struggle.

The 15-minute file audit

Pull one live assignment file and one from an assignment that ended in the last three months. Tick the eight documents against each. Then pick a worker at random and produce their pay record for one pay reference period, hours and pay, as a single document. Time it. The minimum wage rules require exactly that on request, and the records must be kept for at least six years. Two ticks out of eight and a twenty-minute search is a normal first result. It is also the gap a claim would walk through.

What happens when an award is not paid

If an employer loses and does not pay, there is a formal enforcement route, and correspondence now runs through the Fair Work Agency. The worker can ask for a warning notice, which gives the employer 28 days to pay. If the award is still unpaid, a penalty notice follows for 50% of the award plus interest at 8% a year, and awards of £200 or more can be considered for public naming. An unpaid award grows by half, adds interest, and can put your name on a public list.

How to stay out of the tribunal in the first place

Three habits prevent most claims. Put the terms in writing before the assignment starts. Keep pay and holiday records that add up and that you could hand over at short notice. And deal with complaints early and in writing. A fix at week one is far cheaper than a claim at month five, especially once the limit runs to six months.

Related BIOR guides

• Employment Rights Act timeline
• The FWA compliance checklist
• Agency workers and temp desks
• Umbrella and payroll compliance

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For your own contracts, processes and any live dispute, take advice from your own solicitor before relying on it. BIOR accepts no responsibility for any loss arising from use of this guide.

One step you can take today: BIOR Agency Membership includes the Agency Compliance Pack (client-terms harassment clauses, the FWA audit workbook) and the September masterclass "FWA-ready for October", a 25-minute working session with a checklist to sign. Find out more at ior.org/agency-membership. Choosing an agency? Check any recruiter at ior.org/certified.