HR Update - Conciliation must come first

The Government has published regulations and rules setting out the new Early Conciliation Rules of Procedure. The rules outline the process to be used by potential claimants before bringing a tribunal claim. They came into force on 6 April 2014. The early conciliation process is mandatory for claims presented to a tribunal on, or after, 6 May 2014.

What is early conciliation?

• Help from ACAS to settle the dispute without going to court.
• It is a free, impartial, independent and confidential service.
• From 6 May, it is a legal requirement to make an early conciliation notification.
• Tribunal claims will not be accepted unless the employee has been referred to ACAS and has a conciliation certificate.

What does it mean to you as an employer?

• The first you may know about any potential issue is when you get contacted by ACAS.
• The conciliator will talk through the issues with you and the employee/ex-employee.
• The purpose is to explore how the potential claim might be resolved.
• Conciliation may last up to one month; it can be extended once for 14 days.
• If the issue is not resolved, the case will be closed and the employee can then make a tribunal claim.

How this affects the usual three-month time limit to bring claims:

• The time limit for bringing a tribunal claim will be put on hold while early conciliation is in process.
• If early conciliation starts within a month of the expiry of the time limit, a further month is added after the end of early conciliation for the employee to bring a claim.
• This means, for example, that if early conciliation is initiated on the day before the time limit expires, an employee could potentially have up to five, or five-and-a-half months to bring a claim.

If early conciliation is successful and a resolution is reached, both parties will sign a formal record of agreement. This is a legally binding document and will mean the employee can no longer bring a claim regarding this matter.

Jacqui Mann is MD of HR4 Nurseries