Numbers Engaged in Early Conciliation Continue to Rise

ACAS, the statutory conciliation service, has reported a 21% increase in the number of Early Conciliation notifications it received in 2018/19.

Making an Early Conciliation notification is the first step a potential claimant must take if they intend on issuing certain claims against their employer. Once the Early Conciliation notification has been made, ACAS will offer its services with a view to exploring whether the dispute can be resolved without the need for a claim to be issued. Those entering into Early Conciliation may also benefit from an extension to the usual time limits.

This year’s statistics continue a trend of year on year growth in the number of Early Conciliation notifications received. Whilst 73% of notifications handled by ACAS did not result in a claim being issued, these latest statistics form part of a wider picture of an increasing number of Employment Tribunal claims being issued following the abolition of fees for Employment Tribunal claims on 26 July 2017.