A new early dispute resolution service, Early Conciliation, must now be used before a claim can be taken to an Employment Tribunal. The new service is provided by Acas and requires anyone thinking of making a claim to first notify the organisation in order to try and resolve the dispute before taking legal action.

The results of recent studies commissioned by Acas into its a Pre Claim Conciliation (PCC) service suggest that the introduction of Early Conciliation, which is due to take place next year, will prove beneficial for employers and employees.

Independent research has found that Acas intervention in industrial disputes helps reach a settlement in over eight out of ten cases.

The government’s proposal on ‘Settlement Agreements’ merits careful consideration, and is a definite improvement on the blunt weapon of compensated no-fault dismissal proposed by Adrian Beecroft, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).