Early conciliation is a new mandatory procedure for all employment tribunal claims being launched by ACAS, effective from 6 April 2014.
- Anyone thinking about making an employment tribunal claim will need to contact ACAS in the first instance
- ACAS will explore whether early resolution/settlement of the complaint is possible before a claim is submitted to an employment tribunal
- The conciliation period lasts up to one month (can be extended by up to two weeks). If a resolution is not possible in this time then the claimant can proceed with their claim in a tribunal
- Claimants will need to show evidence (in the form of a certificate) that they have first contacted ACAS regarding early conciliation before lodging their claim
This is an interesting development in the tribunal system and we will watch this space on how it changes the settlement of employment disputes. For any help or advice in this area, please contact ProAktive today on 01302 341 344.