New rules for employees considering making an Employment Tribunal Claim

Posted 08/05/2014

From Tuesday 6th May 2014 it became mandatory for any Claimant thinking of making an Employment Tribunal claim against their employer to contact ACAS in the first instance to enter into ‘Early Conciliation’.  It is reported that 4,000 people have tried using the services of ACAS since the service was launched.

Early Conciliation is yet another initiative aimed at reducing the number of Employment Tribunal claims being made and which are ‘squeezing the life’ out of business, according to Matthew Hancock, Minister of State for Education and Business who was quoted in The Telegraph. With the near 80% reduction in the number of claims being presented since the introduction of tribunal fees, it remains to be seen how employees and their (ex) employers will deal with Early Conciliation in practice.

What is clear is that employers need to have a clear understanding of how to manage the risk of any claim being made, preferably before the matter gets to Early Conciliation stage.

Read more on the ACAS website.

Please contact a member of our Employment Team for further information and advice.