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  Today in the Lefebvre HR and Employment Law podcast, we're discussing the judgment in the case of Raison and DF Capital Bank Ltd, in which the Employment Appeal Tribunal was asked to consider whether the standard three-month time limit is extended by a period of early conciliation which takes place prior to the termination date. An unfair dismissal claim must usually be brought within three months of the termination of employment. However, before issuing a claim, the employee must first take part in mandatory early conciliation, and to allow time for this, special rules automatically extend the employee's time limit. In this case the employee who worked for a bank commenced the early conciliation process on 11 February 2023 while her employment was still ongoing. The bank worker's employment was terminated a few days later on the 17 February 2023 and the early conciliation process ended on the 28 February 2023. The bank worker subsequently brought an unfair dismissal claim. The employer argued that the bank worker's claim had been brought out of time because the days of early conciliation which had occurred prior to her termination should be excluded when calculating the automatic extension of time. At a preliminary hearing, the Employment Tribunal agreed that the claim had been brought too late and dismissed it. The bank worker appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, arguing that the whole period of early conciliation, both pre- and post-termination, should be considered when calculating the automatic extension of time. The Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed the appeal and upheld the Tribunal's decision, noting that the statutory provisions are clear and unambiguous. The automatic extension of time for early conciliation only takes account of a period of early conciliation which would otherwise count towards the primary time limit. A claimant is not entitled to extend their time limit by any period of early conciliation which has occurred before their effective date of termination, that is, before their time limit had started running. This analysis also followed naturally from the Employment Appeal Tribunal's earlier decision in Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs and Garau, although the facts of this case did not exactly mirror that decision. Further, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the Tribunal had been entitled to refuse to extend time on the basis that it had been reasonably practicable for the bank worker to bring her claim in time. The Employment Appeal Tribunal's decision clarifies that any days of early conciliation occurring prior to termination will not be included in the automatic extension of time to bring an unfair dismissal claim. This means that, where early conciliation has started prior to termination, it will be necessary to conduct a careful analysis of the key dates to calculate the automatic time extension and ensure any subsequent claims are brought in time. Look out for further episodes in this series to stay up to date on all things HR and employment law related.