Tribunal time limits and Acas Early Conciliation 



Tribunal time limits are affected by Acas EC in the following way. The Acas EC Notification Form must be submitted within the normal time limit for a tribunal claim (usually three months). Submitting the form to Acas within the normal time period “stops the clock” on that time period. The clock will restart, i.e. time will start running again, as soon as Acas supplies the EC Certificate to the claimant. If, at that stage, there is less than one month left in which to issue the claim in the tribunal, the claimant gets a minimum of one month in which to take this step. If the deadline is missed, the claim will be out of time and is likely to be dismissed. 



If Acas issues a second EC certificate in respect of the same matter, the second certificate will not extend time for making the claim (HMRC v Garau [2017] UKEAT/0348/16/2403).


The rules allow an employer to apply for Acas EC where a potential claimant has not already submitted an Acas EC Notification Form. The most important point to note here is that if the employer initiates Acas EC, there is no stopping of the clock, and no extension of the time limit. Although a claimant does not have to submit an Acas EC Notification Form if they can prove that their employer has already started Acas EC, in reality it is always better to be on the safe side and to submit an Acas EC Notification Form during the three-month time period. 



Acas EC also applies to claims against insolvent employers. Claimants in this situation should speak to their rep (see also Chapter 11: Redundancy payments and insolvency). 



Relevant legislation: the Employment Tribunals (Early Conciliation: Exemptions and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2014.