Acas Early Conciliation 


The first step in all employment tribunal claims is to contact Acas under the Acas Early Conciliation (EC) procedure introduced in May 2014. Acas conciliation is free. There is information about how Acas EC works on the Acas website (www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4028).

Acas EC is initiated by the member, who completes an Early Conciliation Notification Form, available from the Acas website. Completing and submitting the Acas EC Notification Form is a compulsory first step to any claim except one for interim relief (see Chapter 5). 


The Acas Early Conciliation Notification Form must be completed and submitted to Acas in time in order to be allowed to bring a claim. However, having taken this first compulsory step, the Claimant then has a choice as to whether or not to actively participate in the early conciliation process by engaging with the Acas conciliator. So too does the employer.


The next case demonstrates the importance of submitting an Acas EC Notification Form. If this first step has not been taken in time, the claim will be dismissed:


Help completing the Acas EC Notification Form is available from the Acas Helpline tel: 0300 123 1100. It can be submitted online or by post. The Form must be submitted by the potential claimant, but he or she can choose to include the contact details of any representative, such as their union rep or solicitor. Where a union member includes these details, Acas will contact the rep directly, rather than the member. Care should be taken when completing the Form to avoid the risk of the claim being rejected. 


The Acas EC Notification Form must be submitted to Acas within the normal time limit for bringing a tribunal claim (usually three months). Otherwise the tribunal will not be allowed to hear it. Although the tribunal has a discretion to extend time to bring a claim, in general such extensions are rarely granted.


The Acas EC Notification Form asks for basic details, including contact details for the parties. It does not ask for information about the dispute. Where there is more than one respondent (for example, a discrimination claim against an employer and a manager) a separate Form is needed for each respondent. Each Form must be submitted inside the three-month time limit. It is sensible to submit them all on the same day if possible.


Acas promises to make first contact (by telephone) with a prospective claimant within one working day, and to allocate the claim to a named conciliator, to try to resolve the dispute through telephone calls to each side.


Acas’s role is that of an impartial conciliator. It is not to advise claimants as to whether any settlement offer by the employer reflects the true value of the claim. In case of doubt, members should check with their solicitor or union rep before agreeing to a settlement. Acas settlements, once reached, are binding and cannot be undone. 


Acas has four weeks to try to achieve a settlement through EC. The conciliator can extend this period for a further two weeks if there is reasonable prospect of a settlement and both parties agree. For more information, see the Acas guide: Early Conciliation explained (www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/o/g/Conciliation-Explained-Acas.pdf).


If a final settlement is reached, Acas records it as a COT3 Settlement Agreement (see page 469). 


At the end of the early conciliation period, if no settlement has been reached Acas will issue the potential claimant with an Early Conciliation Certificate to show that conciliation was considered. Without the reference number on this certificate, it will not be possible to issue a tribunal claim. 


If tribunal proceedings are issued, Acas remains under a continuing statutory duty to help the parties negotiate a settlement of their dispute, until the claim is settled or finally decided by the tribunal. 


Once a claim has been issued, the claimant does not need a new Acas EC Certificate if they want to add extra claims to their existing proceedings. Instead, this is a matter for the employment tribunal’s discretion (Science Warehouse Limited v Mills [2015] UKEAT/224/15). 


Similarly, once a claim has been issued, there is no need for the claimant to apply for a new Acas EC certificate if they want to substitute one or more respondents in place of the original respondent, or add new respondents to the claim. Again, this is a matter for the employment tribunal’s discretion (Drake International Systems Limited v Blue Arrow [2015] UKEAT/0282/15/DM). Acas EC is intended for use before litigation has been started. Once proceedings have been issued, changes to those proceedings — even to the respondents’ identity — are a matter for the tribunal, not Acas. Otherwise there would be a risk of extra, unnecessary litigation, empty formality and a waste of Acas resources.