Acas early conciliation is a free, compulsory step you have to complete before you can bring most employment tribunal claims in England, Wales, and Scotland. A neutral Acas conciliator spends up to 12 weeks trying to help you and your employer settle the dispute without a hearing.1Acas. How the Process Works – Early Conciliation If no settlement is reached, Acas issues a certificate with a reference number, and that number is what lets you file your ET1 claim form.
Who Has to Use It
The Employment Tribunals Act 1996 requires you to notify Acas and go through early conciliation before presenting most claims, including unfair dismissal, discrimination, unpaid wages, and redundancy disputes.2Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Tribunals Act 1996 – Section 18A Without a certificate, the tribunal will not accept your claim.
A few situations are exempt under Regulation 3 of the Employment Tribunals (Early Conciliation: Exemptions and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2014:3Legislation.gov.uk. The Employment Tribunals (Early Conciliation: Exemptions and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2014
- Another person has already notified Acas about the same dispute and you’re joining their claim form.
- Your claim form mixes tribunal-eligible claims with claims outside the tribunal’s jurisdiction.
- Your employer has already contacted Acas about the dispute.
- You’re bringing an unfair dismissal claim with an application for interim relief.
- Your claim is against the Security Service, Secret Intelligence Service, or GCHQ.
Starting the Notification
You start by submitting an early conciliation notification through the Acas website. The form asks for your name, address, phone number, and email, plus the name and address of the employer.2Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Tribunals Act 1996 – Section 18A
Get the employer’s legal name right. Trading names often differ from the registered company name, and the name on your certificate needs to line up with the respondent named on the ET1 later. Check your contract, a payslip, or your P60 for the correct legal entity. The date Acas receives your notification also matters, because it fixes the start of the pause on your filing deadline.
What Happens During Conciliation
Once you notify Acas, a conciliator is assigned. They are impartial. They do not assess how strong your case is and they do not give legal advice. Their role is to carry offers and counteroffers between you and your employer to see whether a settlement is possible. Most contact happens by phone; Acas will use email if you tell them you cannot take calls.1Acas. How the Process Works – Early Conciliation
The conciliation period can run up to 12 weeks from the date Acas receives your notification.1Acas. How the Process Works – Early Conciliation Participation is voluntary for the employer. If they won’t engage, or if both sides hit a wall, the conciliator closes the case and issues your certificate. You don’t have to wait out the full 12 weeks when there’s nothing left to discuss.
The service itself is free for both sides.4Acas. Getting Paid as Part of an Acas Settlement Hiring a solicitor or union representative to advise you is a separate choice with its own cost.
If You Settle: The COT3
When both sides agree terms, Acas records the settlement in a COT3. This is a legally binding agreement.5Acas. Conciliation Up to and During Tribunal – Section: If You Reach an Agreement Once you sign it, you cannot bring the same claim in a tribunal. Settlements can include a financial payment, but they can also cover things like an agreed reference or a set leaving date.
Read the COT3 carefully before you agree, because signing closes the door. If your employer later fails to pay what was agreed, you don’t return to Acas or the tribunal. You enforce the COT3 through the courts using the High Court’s fast track enforcement scheme.6GOV.UK. Enforce an Acas Settlement Through the Fast Track Scheme Enforcement costs money upfront, but you should recover those fees if it succeeds.4Acas. Getting Paid as Part of an Acas Settlement
If You Don’t Settle: The Certificate
If conciliation ends without agreement, Acas issues an early conciliation certificate by email.2Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Tribunals Act 1996 – Section 18A It shows the names of both parties as you gave them, the dates conciliation started and ended, and a unique reference number.
The reference number is what lets you file. You enter it on the ET1 claim form.1Acas. How the Process Works – Early Conciliation If the employer’s name on the certificate doesn’t match the respondent named on the ET1, the tribunal may query it. Tribunals do have case management powers to overlook minor procedural slips where justice requires it, so a genuine mistake won’t automatically sink a claim, but it’s easier to get the name right than to argue over it later.
How It Affects Your Tribunal Deadline
Tribunal claims have short time limits, and missing them usually ends your claim. For most claims, the limit is three months minus one day from the date the problem happened. A few, including statutory redundancy pay and equal pay, have a six-month-minus-one-day limit.7Acas. Employment Tribunal Time Limits
Early conciliation pauses this clock, using two dates from your certificate:
- Day A is the day Acas receives your notification.
- Day B is the day you receive your certificate.
To work out your new deadline, you remove the whole period from the day after Day A through Day B. That time does not count toward the limit.8Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Rights Act 1996 – Section 207B So if 30 days passed during conciliation, your original deadline shifts on by 30 days.
There’s also a backstop. If your adjusted deadline would land during the conciliation period itself, or within one month after Day B, it’s automatically extended to one month after Day B.8Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Rights Act 1996 – Section 207B That protects you from a squeeze where conciliation eats most of your remaining time. Even so, file promptly once you have the certificate. The extra month is a safety net, not a plan.
Crucially, the pause only works if you notify Acas before your original time limit expires.7Acas. Employment Tribunal Time Limits Contacting Acas after the deadline has already passed will not revive the claim. This is how people most often lose otherwise strong cases. If your dismissal or dispute is recent, get the notification in early. Conciliation itself can take up to 12 weeks, but it’s the notification date that preserves your right to file.