Acas and tribunal claim

A. For almost all employment claims, you will have to contact the Acas arbitration and conciliation service for “early conciliation” before you can issue a claim in an employment tribunal. The requirements are set out in sections 18A and 18B of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (ETA) and the schedule to the Employment Tribunals (Early Conciliation Exemptions and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2014. Section 18 of the ETA lists the relevant proceedings to which early conciliation applies, which is virtually all claims that can be brought in an employment tribunal.

Once you’ve informed Acas that you wish to bring a tribunal claim, they will ask you if you want to try early conciliation. If you agree, an Acas conciliator will be assigned to your case who will try to broker a settlement. 


The conciliator will have one month to try to resolve the dispute (although this can be extended by two weeks with your agreement). If settlement is not reached, the conciliator will issue you with an early conciliation certificate that then allows you to bring a claim in the employment tribunal if you still wish to do so. 


There are certain exemptions, set out in the 2014 Regulations where early conciliation is usually required but where an individual does not have to go down this route.

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