Employees thinking about making an employment tribunal claim will now have to contact Acas first to see if their dispute can be resolved through conciliation.

The new Early Conciliation scheme came into force on 6th April, and builds on the Pre Claim Conciliation (PCC) service already offered by Acas.

According to Acas, its PCC service has dealt with around 20,000 cases a year since it began in 2009 and over three quarters of these do not go on to be submitted to an Employment Tribunal.  

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills announced that Acas would provide a new Early Conciliation service from April 2014 as part of the Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation in November 2011. The Government took measures through the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill to provide for this.

If Early Conciliation doesn't resolve the dispute then the claimant will still be able to lodge a tribunal claim.

"Early Conciliation is good news for employees and employers. It will help them resolve their workplace disputes, avoiding the stress, time delays and excessive costs all too often associated with tribunals,” explained Employment Relations Minister, Jenny Willott.

"Under our new free scheme anyone considering lodging a claim with an employment tribunal will now contact Acas before they submit their claim. If both parties agree, Acas will attempt to resolve the dispute for free to see if a tribunal can be avoided," she added.

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