Frequently Asked Questions

Aricase is AI employment tribunal guidance for employees and workers in England and Wales, at aricase.ai. It helps you work out whether you may have a claim and build it step by step: what happened, your evidence, a case plan, deadlines worked out in code, and documents prepared by AI, with every case automatically graded on six areas. It provides legal information, not legal advice, and is a trading name of Arc and Delta Ltd.

No to both. Aricase is not a law firm, and it provides legal information, not legal advice. It does not act for you, represent you or appear at a hearing for you, and the documents it prepares are drafts for you to review and decide whether to use. For advice specific to your circumstances, consult a qualified legal adviser or an advice service such as Citizens Advice or ACAS.

The Aricase Method is how Aricase builds your case: four stages, with automated quality checks built in. (1) Tell me what happened, (2) Show me what you've got, (3) Here's the plan, (4) Let's work through it - and every case is automatically graded on six areas. It is a loop, not a one-off: each stage you complete reshapes the plan as your case changes.

Every case file is graded automatically on six separate areas: the roadmap, the strength of each issue, the timeline, the overall assessment, evidence gaps and any drafts. The grading uses AI models from providers other than the one that wrote the case, and each area has its own checks. We use the grades to monitor and improve quality; they are not a sign-off of your case, so review everything before you use it. This is quality control, not legal advice or representation.

Not yet. Aricase currently covers employment law in England and Wales only. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different procedural rules and separate tribunal systems. If your situation falls outside England and Wales, a local adviser can explain the rules there.

No. Aricase covers employment disputes in England and Wales only, and does not give information about the law anywhere else. In the Republic of Ireland, the Workplace Relations Commission and Citizens Information are the usual starting points. In Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland can help, and in Northern Ireland, the Labour Relations Agency. Elsewhere, a local advice service or an employment specialist in that country is the right place to start.

Your information is used to provide your case materials and guidance and to protect the service. It is processed by the trusted suppliers listed in our privacy policy - for hosting, storage, AI processing, payments and email - some of which may be outside the UK. We do not sell your data, we do not use your case data to train AI models, and we do not let our AI providers use it to train theirs. Our privacy policy explains what is processed, who can access it and your rights.

Unfair dismissal is when an employer ends your employment without a fair reason, without a fair process, or both. The law recognises five potentially fair reasons (conduct, capability, redundancy, a legal bar, and 'some other substantial reason'); a dismissal can still be unfair if the employer did not act reasonably or follow a fair procedure. See our full guide to unfair dismissal for how tribunals approach this.

For most claims the time limit is 6 months less 1 day from the date of the event (for example, the dismissal) where the event happened on or after 1 October 2026, when the Employment Rights Act 2025 extended it. Where the event happened before 1 October 2026, it is 3 months less 1 day. ACAS Early Conciliation must be started within that window. The limit is strict, and missing it can end a claim regardless of its merits. You can check your own dates with the tribunal deadline calculator. (Always confirm your time limit before relying on it.)

For ordinary unfair dismissal where employment ends before 1 January 2027, most employees need 2 years' continuous service. There are important exceptions: 'automatically unfair' dismissals (such as those connected to pregnancy, whistleblowing, or asserting a statutory right) need no qualifying period at all. From 1 January 2027 the qualifying period is 6 months where employment ends on or after that date (Employment Rights Act 2025 section 25, brought into force by SI 2026/559, which has already been made). Employment that ends before then keeps the 2-year rule, and statutory redundancy pay still requires 2 years. See our guide on day-one rights.

ACAS Early Conciliation is a free, confidential step where ACAS tries to help you and your employer settle the dispute before a tribunal claim. For most claims it is mandatory: you cannot lodge an employment tribunal claim without an ACAS Early Conciliation certificate number, although a small number of claim types are exempt. Contacting ACAS also pauses your tribunal time limit while conciliation runs. See our ACAS Early Conciliation guide.

The ET1 is the form that starts an employment tribunal claim; you file it online via GOV.UK after ACAS Early Conciliation, using the certificate reference number. The most important section is the claim narrative, which works best when it is chronological, factual, names the people involved, and identifies the law you say has been broken. Our step-by-step ET1 guide walks through each section and the common mistakes to avoid.

Constructive dismissal is when you resign because your employer committed a fundamental breach of your employment contract, and you treat that breach as bringing the contract to an end. Three things generally need to be present: a serious (fundamental) breach by the employer; your resignation in response to it; and that you did not delay so long that you are treated as having accepted the breach. It is often harder to prove than an ordinary dismissal because the burden is on the employee. See our constructive dismissal guide.

Unfair dismissal compensation usually has two parts: a basic award (a fixed statutory formula based on age, length of service and a week's pay, which is capped - £751 from 6 April 2026) and a compensatory award for your actual financial loss, mainly lost earnings. For ordinary unfair dismissal where employment ends before 1 January 2027, the compensatory award is capped at the lower of £123,543 (from 6 April 2026) or 52 weeks' pay. Where employment ends on or after 1 January 2027, that cap is removed (Employment Rights Act 2025 section 25, brought into force by SI 2026/559). Some claims, such as whistleblowing, are uncapped whatever the date. Our compensation guide explains how awards are calculated, and the free estimator gives an indicative range. (An estimate, not a prediction.)

Statutory redundancy pay is based on your age, your length of continuous service (you generally need at least 2 years), and your weekly pay, with the weekly figure capped by statute (£751 from 6 April 2026). You receive a set number of weeks' pay for each full year worked, weighted by the age you were in each of those years. You can work out your own figure with the statutory redundancy pay calculator.

Yes. Creating an account is free and takes no card details at all. Your case plan, 30 messages with Ari, your first document (including any revisions of it) and one review by Ari of a draft you wrote and uploaded are free. The free start is available once per email address. Your case file, evidence and deadlines stay free for as long as you want them.

Aricase is free to start, with no card needed. Your case plan, 30 messages with Ari, your first document and one review by Ari of a draft you wrote are free. A Case Pass is £50 for 2 months on one case. It covers every other document Ari prepares for that case, further reviews of drafts you write, and as much help from Ari as you need for your case (fair use applies). If your case needs longer, you can buy another 2 months; nothing is charged automatically. There is no subscription and no hourly rate, and no percentage of your outcome is ever taken. A dispute with a different employer is a separate case.

You can build your case plan, send 30 messages to Ari, prepare your first document and have Ari review one draft you wrote, without paying. Reading and editing your case, downloading documents Ari has already produced, your evidence library, and your deadline tracking are all free and stay free. Nothing locks: if you never buy a Case Pass, you keep everything you have built.

There is no time limit on your case. Your case file does not expire and is never locked for payment reasons, so a long wait on ACAS or on a hearing date costs you nothing. A Case Pass runs for 2 months; if your case needs longer you can extend it near the end, and nothing is ever charged automatically.

The Case Pass is a single payment, so there is no recurring charge to stop. You can cancel within 14 days of buying it. We refund what you paid, less a proportionate amount for anything you have already used, such as documents Ari has prepared. You confirm this when you buy. Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are not affected. If a payment is refunded or reversed, the Case Pass ends, and documents already in your case file stay there. Email support@aricase.ai if you want to ask about a refund. The full policy is in our Terms & Conditions.

Most employment tribunal claims in England and Wales must start within 6 months less 1 day of the event (for example dismissal) if it happened on or after 1 October 2026, or 3 months less 1 day if it happened before then. The practical first step inside that window is usually notifying ACAS for Early Conciliation, which pauses the clock while it runs. Our free tribunal deadline calculator applies those statutory rules to the dates you enter; always confirm your position against GOV.UK or ACAS before relying on a figure.

No estimate can replace formal legal advice. We provide guidance based on your answers, but you remain responsible for confirming your time limits before submitting a claim. If you are close to a deadline, contacting ACAS to start Early Conciliation is the step that pauses the tribunal clock - see our tribunal deadlines guide.

No. ACAS Early Conciliation and filing an employment tribunal claim are free, and many people run their own claim without representation. Aricase is built to help you prepare and represent yourself, with your case file automatically graded on six areas along the way; some people still choose to instruct a solicitor for complex or high-value claims. Our guide on going to tribunal without a solicitor explains what doing it yourself involves.

ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) is the free, independent public body that runs Early Conciliation - a required step before most employment tribunal claims, where it tries to help you and your employer settle without a hearing. Notifying ACAS also pauses your tribunal time limit while conciliation runs. See our ACAS Early Conciliation guide for what to expect.

Aricase is built for individual employment disputes in England and Wales, including unfair and constructive dismissal, discrimination (Equality Act protected characteristics), whistleblowing, unpaid wages and holiday pay, redundancy, and related breach of contract issues. It provides legal information and structured case-building, not legal advice or representation. See our employment law guides for topic-by-topic detail.

Most employment disputes settle without a final hearing. Aricase helps you prepare for ACAS Early Conciliation and settlement discussions with structured drafts and a clear view of your timeline and issues. Any formal settlement agreement still usually needs independent legal advice before you sign - Aricase is not a law firm. See our settlement agreements guide for what those documents typically cover.

If your claim proceeds toward a hearing, Aricase helps you organise evidence, understand the stages (ET3 response, disclosure, bundle, witness statements), and prepare documents step by step, with your case file automatically graded on six areas along the way. It does not appear for you at the hearing. Our hearing guide explains what a tribunal day typically involves.