tips-dispute-and-tribunal-risk

---
name: tips-dispute-and-tribunal-risk
description: Reads a tips complaint the way an employment tribunal will, works out which of the two separate time limits applies, and states the actual compensation exposure rather than a guess, because the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 gives allocation and timing complaints twelve months to be brought while policy and record complaints get only three. It does not predict whether a tribunal would find for the worker; it states what the worker is entitled to claim, by which date, and what a tribunal winning that claim can order against the business. Use the moment a tips complaint is raised, formally or informally, so the clock and the exposure are both on record from day one.
---

# The tribunal clock a tips complaint actually runs on

You give this the date a complaint was raised and what it is about. You get back which of the two statutory routes it falls under, the date the time limit expires, and the maximum financial exposure a tribunal can order.

## What it does

1. **Splits the complaint into the right route before anything else, because the two routes run on different clocks.** Section 27K of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as inserted by the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, covers complaints about tip allocation and payment timing under sections 27D and 27G, with a twelve-month time limit from the failure complained of. Section 27N covers complaints about the written policy and record-keeping duties under sections 27I and 27J, with a three-month time limit. A complaint that an allocation was unfair and a complaint that no written policy exists are not the same clock, and the skill checks which one, or both, actually applies.
2. **Extends the clock only on the statutory ground, never on sympathy.** Section 27K(4) allows the twelve-month limit to be extended where it was not reasonably practicable to complain in time, and section 27K(7) applies the usual Acas early conciliation extension. The skill records whether either ground is claimed and on what evidence, rather than assuming more time exists.
3. **States the remedy a tribunal can actually order, not what the worker is asking for.** Section 27L allows a tribunal to make a declaration and to order the employer to deal with tips in accordance with the Part, including revising an allocation or requiring payments to workers; for an agency complaint, it may order the agent to pay the worker. Section 27M caps compensation for financial loss at £5,000 per claim for allocation and timing complaints, whether or not an order under section 27L was also made. Section 27O gives the same declaration, compliance order and £5,000 cap for policy and record complaints.
4. **Flags that a win for one worker can reopen the allocation for everyone.** Acas guidance states that if a claim succeeds, the employer may have to act for other affected workers, even if those workers did not themselves make a claim, so one upheld complaint is checked against the whole period's allocation, not treated as a one-off payment to make the complainant go away.
5. **Keeps the unlawful deductions route visible alongside the tips-specific one.** The Act's own amendments apply the unauthorised deductions rules in sections 13 and 27 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 to tip allocations, so a worker can have an unlawful deductions claim running on its own separate time limit at the same time as a tips Act complaint; the skill records both rather than assuming the new Act replaced the old route.

## Then it checks

1. The complaint is classified as an allocation/timing matter (section 27K), a policy/record matter (section 27N), or both.
2. The correct time limit, twelve months or three months, is applied and the expiry date is calculated from the date of the failure, not the date the complaint was raised.
3. Any claimed extension is recorded with its ground and its evidence, never assumed.
4. The maximum compensation exposure, £5,000 per route, is stated alongside any order to revise the allocation or pay other workers.
5. A parallel unlawful deductions claim is checked for and recorded if one could also run on these same facts.

Any check fails: name it, redo that step once. Failed twice: say what is wrong and stop.

## Rules
- Public information only. Never invent a fact, a number or a quote.
- Anything sent in someone's name says whose name it is.
- Never state a tribunal outcome as certain; this skill states exposure and deadlines, not a prediction of who wins.
- Never collapse the twelve-month and three-month limits into one date; they attach to different sections and can expire on different days for the same dispute.
- This is a working document for the owner to check against their own records and for their solicitor or Acas to check before any tribunal step is taken. It is not legal advice.

## Built from
- Employment Rights Act 1996, Part 2B, sections 27K, 27L, 27M, 27N and 27O, as inserted by the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 c.13, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/13, Royal Assent 2 May 2023, read 4 November 2026: the two time limits, extension grounds, remedies and compensation caps, behind steps 1, 2 and 3.
- Acas, "Tips and service charges: what the law says", https://www.acas.org.uk/tips-and-service-charges, read 4 November 2026: the tribunal route in plain language and the effect of a win for other affected workers, behind steps 4 and 5.

# tips-dispute-and-tribunal-risk

## You are given
The date the complaint was raised, and the date of the failure it complains about (which may be earlier than the complaint date). A description of what the complaint is about, in the worker's own words. Whether Acas early conciliation has started, and if so, the dates it started and ended. Any claim that it was not reasonably practicable to complain sooner, with the reason given. Whether the worker is an agency worker and, if so, whether the complaint is against the principal or the agent. Any other affected workers identified from the same allocation period.

## Produce
Write into a `./tips-dispute-and-tribunal-risk-output/` folder:

1. `route-classification.csv` with columns: `complaint_ref`, `complaint_summary_verbatim`, `route`, `statutory_section`, `time_limit_months`. `route` is exactly one of `allocation or timing (s.27K)`, `policy or record (s.27N)`, `both`. `time_limit_months` is `12` or `3` per route, listed twice if `both`.
2. `deadline-calculation.csv` with columns: `complaint_ref`, `route`, `date_of_failure`, `base_deadline_date`, `early_conciliation_days_added`, `extended_deadline_date`, `complaint_date`, `verdict`. `verdict` is exactly one of `within time`, `out of time, no extension claimed`, `out of time, extension claimed` .
3. `remedy-exposure.csv` with columns: `complaint_ref`, `route`, `max_compensation_gbp`, `possible_order_types`, `other_workers_potentially_affected_count`. `max_compensation_gbp` is `5000` per route found. `possible_order_types` lists exactly which of `declaration`, `revise allocation`, `payment to worker`, `payment order against agent`, `compliance order` apply to that route per the statute.
4. `parallel-claims-check.csv` with columns: `complaint_ref`, `unlawful_deduction_claim_possible`, `basis`. `unlawful_deduction_claim_possible` is `yes` or `no`, based only on whether the complaint describes a tip that was not paid at all or in full, never a legal opinion on the claim's merits.
5. `gaps.md` - a numbered list of: any complaint with no date of failure supplied; any `verdict` of `out of time, no extension claimed`; any extension claimed with no reason given; any route for which `other_workers_potentially_affected_count` is greater than zero with no record of the full allocation period being reviewed.

## Rules
- Codex counts, classifies and calculates deadlines. It never predicts a tribunal's decision on the merits and never advises the worker or the employer on whether to bring or defend a claim.
- The two time limits are always calculated and reported separately, even where one complaint triggers both routes.
- The £5,000 compensation figure is the statutory cap read for this pack; Codex states it as the cap, never as a prediction of the amount a tribunal would actually award.
- Use British English, GBP and DD Month YYYY dates. No em dashes in any file you write.
- Every file ends with this line: this is a working document prepared for the owner to check against their own records and for their solicitor or Acas to check before any tribunal step is taken. It is not legal advice.

## Return
The absolute path of each file written and the row count of each CSV. The route and deadline for every complaint, stated in full. Every complaint marked `out of time, no extension claimed`. The maximum compensation exposure per complaint and per route. Whether a parallel unlawful deductions claim looks possible on the facts given. The `gaps.md` item count.