As of 1 October, employees now have six months to bring a tribunal claim against you instead of three. This means that every dismissal, disciplinary and grievance outcome from that date carries twice the risk window. And, when you factor in Acas early conciliation, a claim might not land on your desk for nine months or more after the original incident.

If a tribunal claim lands on your desk, what you do next really matters. You have 28 days to act. And how you act can be the difference between successfully defending the claim and paying a large sum of money you potentially can't afford. For most small business owners, it's territory they've never been in before. So, what do you do if a claim happens tomorrow?