Early conciliation periods extended

Changes to the early conciliation rules coming into force today extend the early conciliation period for employment tribunal claims to six weeks. This replaces the previous one-month period. However, it will no longer be possible to obtain a 14-day extension if a settlement has not been reached in the early conciliation period but settlement is looking likely. 

Employees have to contact Acas before they are able to submit an employment tribunal claim. The employer and the employee can agree to Acas conciliation to see if they can reach a settlement of the dispute. Time limits for presenting claims are extended by any period spent during early conciliation. The extended six-week conciliation period will therefore mean that employees who engage in early conciliation will now have longer to submit an employment tribunal claim.