7 Key questions answered about Early Conciliation

This is part  of the Government reforms under the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and aimed to cut the £74 million pound cost to run the Employment Tribunal service each year. The second part of the reforms saw the introduction of Early Conciliation, a new service provided by ACAS which went live on 6^th April 2014. This new service aims to help settle disputes between employers and employees without the need to go to court.

The new scheme means that anyone wishing to make an employment tribunal claim will first need to notify ACAS by completing an ‘early conciliation notification form’. This will be a legal requirement from 6^th May 2014 before a claimant can proceed with their claim to the Employment Tribunal.

1) How much will it cost the business?

The service provided by ACAS is free. The aim of the service is to open up dialog between the employee/claimant and employer to try and find a resolution to the dispute. If a resolution can be found, any settlement may have a cost implication for the business; however this approach aims to avoid expensive legal fees that are often involved with traditional settlement agreements.

 

2) Do I have to engage with early conciliation if contacted by ACAS?

For many employers being contacted by ACAS will be the first time they are made aware that their employee or former employee intends to make a claim.  We would always recommend that you gather as much information as possible from the ACAS conciliator, so that you can review your options in more detail. You will not be required to make immediate decisions should you be contacted by ACAS, so take some time and further advice from Tamar HR before you open up any detailed discussions.

 

3) How long will this process take?

Upon receiving the ‘early conciliation notification form’ ACAS will have a period of 1 calendar month to seek to resolve the dispute and will contact both parties quickly after receiving a request. Employers need to be aware that this time period will ‘stop the clock’ in relation to the 3 month period that an employee has to submit an unfair dismissal claim to the Employment Tribunal. If a resolution is close as the month is drawing to a close, there is an option to extend this period by a further 2 weeks should all parties agree to this.

4) Don’t ACAS always take the side of the employee/claimant?

ACAS has been designed to be an impartial service that does not represent either the employee or employer. Their main focus is to advise on the dispute resolution.

5) Who will ACAS contact in our business?

The claimant will name a point of contact on the ‘early conciliation notification form’, so be aware that this will not always be the business owner or a Director of the business. It could be the individual’s Line Manager or Supervisor. We recommend that you brief all your Managers and Supervisors on the correct procedure to follow and who they should inform if they are ever contacted by ACAS.

6) What happens if we reach an agreement?

If a resolution is reached, the ACAS conciliator will prepare a settlement agreement known as a COT3. This will be a legally binding document that will need to be signed by all parties and once complete will restrict the claimant from making any further Tribunal claims on that matter.

7) What happens if we can’t reach an agreement?

If no resolution can be agreed within the time limit or extended period, then early conciliation will come to an end. The claimant will then be free to make a claim to the Employment Tribunal.

The Tamar HR view

Although initially Early Conciliation was seen by employers as another hoop to jump through,  this is an important process which aims to avoid a dispute going to the Employment Tribunal. Since the introduction of the Tribunal fees the number of claims has fallen by nearly 80%, so it will be interesting to see if this figure varies over the coming months with Early Conciliation up and running. If you would like further details on Early Conciliation or advice on how to prepare your team for a call from ACAS, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at Tamar HR.