Demand for new Acas early conciliation service 'may be limited'

Demand for the new Acas early conciliation (EC) service may be limited, employment lawyers have warned.

The EC scheme, due to be introduced on 1 April 2014, will require claimants to obtain a certificate from Acas before they can bring a claim at an employment tribunal.

Meanwhile the government is to introduce fees for employment tribunal hearings on July 29.

In its response to a consultation on the scheme, BIS said claimants would submit an EC request form, indicating whether they were prepared to engage with the scheme. The form will ask for basic details, such as contact numbers, but will not ask for details of the claim.

Acas will then issue an EC certificate, confirming to the tribunal that the pre-claim requirements have been met. If claimants do engage with the scheme, they will not be restricted in terms of future allegations.

"It is unlikely to be widely used to start off with," Rob Riley (pictured), partner at Addleshaw Goddard in Leeds, said. "I think the uptake may be limited.

"If it is successful in the cases in which it is used, word will spread and it will be used more widely."

Riley said the current Acas pre-claim conciliations service was attractive to employers because it was cheap and useful for litigants in person.

"I'm not sure it takes us much further, but it is consistent with the push for early settlement."

Darren Newman, employment barrister and trainer, said: "I think this is purely an administrative hurdle in the way of bringing claims.

"I don't think the government's claims for it stack up at all. The cases suitable for settlement will settle anyway.

"If you put it together with tribunal fees, the temptation for the employer is to wait and see if claimants stump up the required fee."

- In a separate development, Acas released research finding that nearly nine out of 10 employers who used the existing pre-claim conciliation scheme said they would use it again and two thirds of employees would recommend the service to a friend or relative.

Researchers from TNS BMRB contacted 476 people who used the service between November 2012 and February 2013.

Anne Sharp, the chief executive of Acas, said: "We know from independent research into PCC that when staff, management time and legal costs are factored in, employers save on average £2,700 compared to resolving a dispute once an employment tribunal claim has been made.

"Early Conciliation will give us the chance to help even more people resolve their disputes early.

"These surveys show that our conciliators and support officers are well prepared for its introduction. Our current PCC service is free to use for both employers and employees and Early Conciliation will be too."