Before an employee can submit an Employment Tribunal claim, they normally need to complete the Acas Early Conciliation process.  However, from 1 December 2025, the Early Conciliation period is going to be significantly increased.  So what does this mean for employers?

What is the Acas Early Conciliation period? 

In an effort to encourage employers and employees to resolve employment disputes without the need for legal proceedings, since April 2014, prospective claimants have been required to to notify Acas of their intention to bring an Employment Tribunal claim before it is filed.  Once notified of the prospective claim, Acas has a statutory duty to explore with the parties the prospect of the dispute being resolved by negotiation and agreement. 

Initially, a 1-month Early Conciliation ‘window’ was put in place.  This meant that the parties had a period of one month in which to settle their dispute.  If after a month no agreement was reached, the Claimant was free to proceed with their ET claim.  Although there was the potential to increase the ‘window’ by a further two weeks, too often there was simply not enough time to get a deal done.  As a result, in December 2020, the default Early Conciliation ‘window’ was increased to 6 weeks in all cases.  Now, the early conciliation ‘window’ is due to be extended once again.

Why is the change necessary?

So why does the government keep increasing the Early Conciliation ‘window’?  Well, in simple terms, it's because in too many cases Acas doesn’t have the time or resources to get around to providing the conciliation services the parties need.  The intention of the Early Conciliation process is to reduce the number of cases unnecessarily clogging up our Employment Tribunals.  If it is to achieve this objective, Acas needs more time to get through its workload.  With this in mind, the Early Conciliation ‘window’ is now going to be doubled from 6 weeks to 12 weeks with effect from 1 December 2025.

Good news and bad news

In some respects, giving the parties more time to resolve potential ET claims is good for both sides.  After all, what have you got to lose?  If you want to settle a claim but you need more time to do it, now you've got it.  If you're not interested in settlement discussions, negotiation is not compulsory.  However, there one particular ‘risk factor’ that employers need to bear in mind.  The duration of the Early Conciliation ‘window’ has a direct effect on how quickly an employee can submit their prospective claim.  Once the law changes, factoring in the current ‘standard’ ET time limit of 3 months, and coupling this with a 12-week Early Conciliation ‘window’ (as well as potential delays in the ET administrative systems), it now becomes entirely possible that a valid ET claim may be served on an employer 7 months (or more) after the events complained of.  This has the potential to take employers by surprise.  It could also cause considerable problems if documents, information and witness evidence relevant to the issues in dispute have been disposed of or are otherwise no longer available.

Do you need to review your document retention policies?

Given the increased delay in employers receiving potentially valid ET claims, it's important for businesses to make sure that relevant documents and information relating to potential disputes are retained for long enough.  Bearing mind that there are also plans to increase the standard ET time limit from 3 months to 6 months, employers would be well advised to retain relevant documents and information for even longer.

Need a hand?

We’ll be sure to update you again if the proposed increase to the standard ET time limit is ultimately introduced.  In the meantime, if you want to discuss the implications of this change in the law for your business, please get in touch.