WhatsApp Messages and UK Employment Tribunals

If you are in a work dispute in England, Scotland or Wales, messages with your employer may matter. This page covers preserving and organising your own messages, not whether you have a claim.

Not legal advice. This page is general information. Whether a court admits or relies on a chat is for the court; convokeep does not promise admission or any outcome. Ask a qualified lawyer about your case.

Do I have to contact Acas first?

The Acas page says you must usually notify Acas before making a claim to an employment tribunal (gov.uk lists exceptions), though taking part in conciliation is optional (opened 2026-10-29). The gov.uk page says the deadline is paused while Acas helps and, for problems on or after 1 October 2026, you usually have 6 months to claim (3 months before that date) (opened 2026-10-29). Time limits can differ by claim type, so check the current gov.uk text.

Which messages should I keep?

Messages where you took part: instructions, pay, hours, complaints, replies. Keep the whole thread and keep other documents (contract, payslips) separately.

How should I export them?

Export from your phone, keep the original untouched, and make a dated PDF if useful. See export steps.

What about work group chats?

They hold other people's names and data. Think about whether to redact before sharing, and check your employer's rules before moving work material to a personal device.

Will the tribunal accept my export?

That is for the tribunal. We cannot say what is accepted, and the tribunal's own directions control what documents are used. Ask Acas, a union or an adviser.

What does a hash show?

Only that the file is unchanged since the hash was recorded, not that nothing was deleted before export. See what a hash proves.

Privacy

Reading the file, building the PDF and calculating hashes all happen in your browser. No chat or attachment is uploaded and there is no account. See the privacy policy and the disclaimer.

Related guides

Sources (checked 2026-10-29)

Acas, early conciliation: https://www.acas.org.uk/early-conciliation (opened).
GOV.UK, employment tribunals: https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunals (opened).

Ready to try it?

Drop your exported chat file on the convokeep app for a free preview. The first 3 pages are free (watermarked, no integrity page); saving the full PDF is a one-time paid feature. No chat or attachment is uploaded: the file is read in your browser. To check later that a file is unchanged, use the hash checker.

Open the app

This document was generated locally in the user's browser; no content was uploaded.