Consultation outcome

Early conciliation: proposals for implementation

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Detail of outcome

Response to feedback received on the content of the early conciliation form and certificate, exemptions, and how Acas will work with parties to seek settlement.

Feedback from the consultation has now been incorporated into a final set of regulations that come into force on 6 April 2014.

You can also view the final impact assessment, which provides a cost-benefit analysis of the new regulations.


Original consultation

Summary

Consulting out how we intend that early conciliation should operate, together with a draft set of rules of procedure.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

As set out in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, early conciliation will mean that other than in specific circumstances, prospective claimants will first need to contact Acas before they can present a claim at employment tribunal. Acas will then seek to help parties resolve the issue without the need for tribunal involvement.

Implementing early conciliation requires secondary legislation and developing necessary administrative processes. In January 2013 government sought views on how early conciliation should operate. We presented a draft set of regulations with more detail on the operational aspects of early conciliation for public consultation.

The government’s response to the consultation sets out:

  • the content of the early conciliation form and certificate
  • exemptions from the process
  • some further detail of how Acas will work with parties to seek settlement

Government will continue to work with Acas, Her Majesty’s Courts, Tribunals Service and stakeholders to get the detail of early conciliation right, ready for implementing in early 2014.

Documents

Updates to this page

Published 17 January 2013
Last updated 24 February 2014 + show all updates
  1. Added final impact assessment and a web link to the published regulations.

  2. First published.

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