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ACAS has recently revealed statistics of the impact of the first year of Early Conciliation. Through the introduction of the new Employment Tribunal fees regime in July 2013 and the new ‘Early Conciliation’ service in April 2014, the landscape in which ACAS operates has changed significantly. It is now obligatory for employees intending to lodge an ET claim to contact ACAS in the first instance, to see if the dispute can be resolved through ‘Early Conciliation’ and avoid recourse to a full hearing.
Between April 2013 and March 2015, ACAS has confirmed they have dealt with over 83,000 Early Conciliation cases, with three out of four employees and employers agreeing to try Early Conciliation. Out of these cases, ACAS statistics reveal that 63% did not proceed to a tribunal claim, whilst a further 15% resulted in a formal COT3 settlement. Only 22% of cases progressed to a tribunal claim, and out of the 22% claims issued, it was found that more than half (51%) subsequently settled by way of ACAS.
Comment
ACAS Early Conciliation has certainly affected the amount of claims being lodged with the employment tribunals, on top of the impact of tribunal fees, which were introduced in 2013. Employment Associate Paul Burton says, "We cannot say for sure how successful it has been as many of the potential claimants who contacted ACAS may never have intended to go through with a claim in the employment tribunal in any event."
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