Pre-claim conciliation up by one-third, says Acas annual report
The annual report from Acas says that demand for its pre-claim conciliation service has risen by one-third (34%) in 2011/12, meaning that Acas pre-claim conciliation dealt with 23,777 cases, 6,000 more than in the previous 12-month period.
According to the report, the proportion of cases settled or otherwise resolved by pre-claim conciliation, which was launched in April 2009, has risen from 48% in 2010/11 to 55% in 2011/12. The proportion of completed pre-claim conciliation cases in which no subsequent claim was made to an employment tribunal has increased from 74% to 78% in 2011/12.
The overall number of individual cases received by Acas for conciliation in 2011/12, excluding equal pay cases in local authorities and the NHS, was 72,075, compared with 74,620 in 2010/11.
Acas says that it has been involved in nearly 1,000 collective disputes, including those related to Vivergo, Cammell Laird, JobCentre Plus, London Underground, and British Airways, as well as the dispute between Unite and the main petrol distributors.
The annual report also highlights that the Government has asked Acas to introduce a new early conciliation service from 2014. In the first instance, potential tribunal claims will be referred to Acas to see if it can resolve the dispute before it is lodged at the employment tribunal. The basic early conciliation period will be one month.
- Demand for early intervention in workplace disputes continues to rise Read a summary of the report on the Acas website.
- Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) annual report and accounts 2011/12 (black and white version) (PDF format, 436MB) Read the report in full on the Acas website.
- Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) annual report and accounts 2011/12 (colour version) (PDF format, 3MB) Read the report in full on the Acas website.
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