What Will Happen in My Working Time Claim? Highest Win Rate at Hearing
This article applies to England, Wales and Scotland.
Important: This guide provides information about UK employment law. It is not legal advice. Every situation is different. If you are dealing with a workplace dispute, consider speaking to a solicitor for advice specific to your circumstances.
In brief: Working time claims rose 58% year-on-year to 1,503 complaints in Q2 2025/26, representing 16% of all claims. These cases have the highest hearing success rate of any claim type at 11%, a 13% default judgment rate, and the joint fastest clearance time at 26 weeks. Of disposed claims, 24% settled through ACAS conciliation.
Last updated: February 2026
If your employer has not paid you for overtime, denied you holiday entitlement, or failed to comply with working time rules, the data suggests working time claims are among the most successful at tribunal. They have the highest rate of winning at a hearing, one of the highest default judgment rates, and they resolve faster than almost any other claim type.
The figures in this article come from the Ministry of Justice's Employment Tribunal Statistics (Reform system data), covering Q2 2024/25 through Q2 2025/26. Working time claims are brought under the Working Time Regulations 1998 and cover issues including unpaid holiday, rest breaks, maximum weekly hours, and night work limits.
How many people are in your position?
Working time is the fifth most common tribunal complaint. In Q2 2025/26 (July to September 2025), 1,503 complaints were filed, representing 16% of all single claims.
| Quarter | Working time complaints | Share of all claims |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2024/25 (Jul-Sep 2024) | 951 | 16% |
| Q3 2024/25 (Oct-Dec 2024) | 1,046 | 16% |
| Q4 2024/25 (Jan-Mar 2025) | 1,188 | 16% |
| Q1 2025/26 (Apr-Jun 2025) | 1,352 | 15% |
| Q2 2025/26 (Jul-Sep 2025) | 1,503 | 16% |
That is a 58% increase compared to Q2 2024/25, when 951 complaints were filed. Growth has been consistent, with the share of total claims remaining stable at around 16%.
The most common working time issues brought to tribunal are unpaid holiday pay (including holiday pay on termination), failure to allow rest breaks, exceeding the 48-hour maximum working week without a valid opt-out, and disputes about holiday entitlement calculations. Many working time claims are filed alongside unauthorised deductions from wages and unfair dismissal, particularly where employment has ended and final holiday pay has not been settled.
How will your case most likely end?
The tribunal disposed of 653 working time complaints in Q2 2025/26. Here is how they were resolved:
| Outcome | Percentage | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ACAS conciliated settlement | 24% | Settled through ACAS before hearing |
| Withdrawn or dismissed | 36% | Claim withdrawn by claimant or dismissed by tribunal |
| Default judgment | 13% | Employer failed to respond, claimant won by default |
| Successful at hearing | 11% | Went to full hearing, claimant won |
| Unsuccessful at hearing | 3% | Went to full hearing, employer won |
| Struck out | 4% | Tribunal removed the claim |
| Other | 9% | Includes various procedural outcomes |
The 11% hearing success rate is the highest of any major claim type. Combined with the 13% default judgment rate, nearly one in four working time claims results in an outright win for the claimant (either at hearing or by default). If you imagine 100 working time claims filed today, roughly 24 would settle through ACAS, 13 would win by default because the employer did not respond, and only 14 would reach a full contested hearing, where 11 would win and 3 would lose. The remaining 49 would be withdrawn, struck out, or resolved through other routes.
Working time claims succeed more often at hearings because the factual questions are typically clear. Was the holiday pay calculated correctly? Were rest breaks provided? Was overtime compensated? The evidence is usually found in payslips, rotas, timesheets, and contracts.
How long will it take?
Working time claims are among the fastest to resolve, with a mean clearance time tied with unauthorised deductions as the joint quickest:
| Percentile | Working time | All claims |
|---|---|---|
| 25th (fastest quarter) | 13 weeks | 14 weeks |
| Median (middle case) | 22 weeks | 25 weeks |
| 75th (slower cases) | 36 weeks | 40 weeks |
| Mean (average) | 26 weeks | 28 weeks |
The average working time case takes 26 weeks, two weeks faster than the all-claims mean. The median is 22 weeks, three weeks faster, and the fastest quarter of cases clear within 13 weeks. Even the slowest quarter (36 weeks) is four weeks quicker than the all-claims 75th percentile.
The speed reflects both the factual nature of these claims and the high rate of default judgments and early settlements. Cases that involve a genuine dispute about complex holiday pay calculations or working patterns may take longer.
For a full comparison of timelines across all claim types, see our waiting times analysis.
The backlog: what is waiting ahead of you
The open caseload for working time stands at 4,051 cases as of Q2 2025/26, a 232% increase from the previous year.
| Period | Open working time cases | Total open caseload | Share of backlog |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 2024/25 | 1,220 | 7,571 | 16% |
| Q2 2025/26 | 4,051 | 25,267 | 16% |
Despite being one of the faster claim types to resolve, the working time backlog has grown at roughly the same rate as the overall tribunal backlog. The share has remained stable at 16%.
What this means for you
The data is more favourable for working time claims than for most other types of tribunal complaint.
Your chances at a hearing are the best of any claim type. At 11%, working time claims have the highest success rate at a full hearing. The documentary nature of these disputes, where payslips, contracts, and timesheets typically provide clear evidence, makes them among the easiest claims to prove.
Many employers do not engage. The 13% default judgment rate means one in eight employers simply does not respond. As with wages claims, this is more common with smaller businesses facing clear-cut financial claims. If your employer does not file a response within 28 days, you may win by default.
Holiday pay claims are the most common. Unpaid holiday pay, including accrued but untaken holiday on termination, makes up the bulk of working time claims. If you are owed holiday pay, check your contract, your payslips, and your holiday records. The calculation of holiday pay has become more complex following recent case law on what counts towards "normal remuneration" (including regular overtime and commission in some cases).
Settlement is realistic. At 24%, the ACAS settlement rate is in line with other financial claim types. The amounts at stake are often clearly calculable, which can make negotiation more predictable for both sides.
Time limits still apply. You need to start ACAS early conciliation within three months minus one day of the working time breach (or the last in a series of deductions for pay-related claims). The backlog does not extend your filing deadline. Once the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes take effect (expected October 2026), this may extend to six months.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many working time claims are filed?
In Q2 2025/26, 1,503 working time complaints were filed, up 58% on the same quarter the previous year. Working time accounts for around 16% of all tribunal claims.
What percentage of working time claims succeed?
Around 11% succeed at a full hearing, the highest rate of any claim type. Another 13% result in default judgment. In total, 24% settle through ACAS.
How long does a working time tribunal case take?
The average is 26 weeks, two weeks faster than the all-claims average. The fastest 25% of cases clear within 13 weeks, while 25% take 36 weeks or more. Working time claims are among the fastest to resolve.
What does a working time claim cover?
Working time claims under the Working Time Regulations 1998 cover unpaid holiday pay, denied rest breaks (20 minutes per 6 hours worked), exceeding the 48-hour maximum week without a valid opt-out, night work limits, and failure to provide compensatory rest. Holiday pay disputes are the most common category.
What happens if my employer does not respond to my working time claim?
If your employer fails to file a response within 28 days, the tribunal may enter a default judgment in your favour. This happens in 13% of working time cases, one of the highest rates of any claim type.
Sources
- "Employment Tribunal Statistics, Tables ET_1_R, ET_2_R, ET_4_R, T_3", Ministry of Justice / HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2025 - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
- Working Time Regulations 1998 - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/contents/made
- "Working hours and rest breaks", ACAS - https://www.acas.org.uk/working-hours
- "Holiday entitlement", ACAS - https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-holiday-entitlement