Acas publishes statistics on Early Conciliation service
Acas has recently published statistics showing how Early Conciliation (“EC”) has been working for the first 6 months of the year.
Since 6 May 2014, Acas has received 44,390 notifications from employees, which includes group notifications. The statistics show that not many people reject the offer of EC, with 10% of both employees (3,783) and employers (3,727) having rejected the offer of EC. Of the 37,404 cases that Acas has dealt with; 18% are by way of a COT3, 24% go on to tribunal whilst more than half, at 58%, do not proceed at all. The latter statistic stands out in particular, showing that a clear majority of those who initially contact Acas, because they think they have a worthwhile claim against their employer, decide not to pursue it in the end.
With the recent fall in tribunal claims, it certainly appears that alongside the introduction of tribunal fees, pre-claim conciliation by Acas also appears to be working towards reducing the number of claims being brought through to the ET.