Acas Early Conciliation (England, Wales & Scotland)

The Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is an independent body that runs a scheme called Early Conciliation.

This is a free service designed to resolve workplace disputes. If you and your employee have a problem that you can't resolve and the employee is considering lodging a claim at an Employment Tribunal, the employee usually must inform Acas about the dispute before starting the claim.

The employee must first send Acas certain prescribed information about their dispute. They can use a form to do this, which is available from Acas.

Provided you both agree to use Early Conciliation, Acas will have 6 weeks to try to resolve the dispute. In the meantime, the time limits for starting an Employment Tribunal claim will be frozen.

If a settlement cannot be reached, Acas will give the employee an Early Conciliation certificate. This certificate will show that Acas believes a settlement will not be possible. Acas will also provide a certificate if either side refuses to use Early Conciliation or can't be contacted.

The employee will need the certificate to start a claim at an Employment Tribunal.

Labour Relations Agency Early Conciliation (Northern Ireland)

The Labour Relations Agency (LRA) also runs a scheme called Early Conciliation. This is a free service designed to resolve workplace disputes.

An employee who wants to start a claim at an Industrial or Fair Employment Tribunal must first send a form to the LRA to provide information about their dispute.

Provided both parties agree to use the scheme, the LRA will have a month to try to resolve the dispute (this can be extended for 14 days by the conciliation officer if they believe there is a reasonable prospect of reaching an agreement). In the meantime, the time limits for starting a tribunal claim will be frozen.

If a settlement cannot be reached, the LRA will give the employee an Early Conciliation certificate. This will also be given where either side refuses to use Early Conciliation or can't be contacted. This certificate will show that they believe a settlement will not be possible.

The employee will need the certificate to start a claim at a tribunal.

When to use Early Conciliation

Both Acas and the LRA will offer the scheme for most types of claims, such as those involving unfair dismissal, discrimination, redundancy payments, deduction of wages and unpaid holiday pay.

The scheme will not apply to a small number of claims, such as where there is little time left to make a claim, making it impractical. Also, the scheme will not apply if the employee has already referred the dispute to the LRA, or if the dispute involves multiple claims.

If you're responding to a potential claim, you (rather than the employee) can also ask Acas or the LRA for Early Conciliation. You will need to contact them and give details of the employee.

Note that if you request Early Conciliation, the time limit for making a tribunal claim will not be frozen.

See either the Acas or LRA websites for more information on the scheme.