Early conciliation is now compulsory

From 6 May, it is compulsory for anyone wanting to make an Employment Tribunal claim to contact the employment relations service Acas first. It will then try and resolve the dispute quickly without the need for legal action through its new free service called early conciliation, which was launched on a voluntary basis on 6 April.

Around 4,000 people have contacted Acas about early conciliation since its launch and the vast majority (98%) decided to try the service.

Acas chair Sir Brendan Barber said: “Early conciliation has got off to a very good start and has given us the chance to help more people resolve their disputes early, as well as save taxpayers some of the cost of running the tribunal system.

“The public have repeatedly told us how much they value the skills and experience of our conciliation staff.”

www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4812