Good news for potential litigants–more time for Acas

Currently, before claims can be issued in the Employment Tribunal, people have to undergo Acas conciliation. The formal conciliation process cannot last longer than 6 weeks, at the end of which a certificate is issued and the clock starts ticking for lodging the claim.  More recently, due to a severe backlog and being under-resourced, Acas often does not contact the employer during this 6 week period and conciliation does not take place. It has become something of a box ticking exercise with very limited effectiveness. 

Today, the government has published an amendment to the Regulations which govern the Acas process and more specifically, the window for conciliation. Under these Regulations, the window for conciliation is to be extended from 6 weeks to 12 weeks. This will allow for a more meaningful process of conciliation by giving both parties more time to explore whether early resolution of the claims is possible. The new process is due to come into force from 1 December 2025.

If you are an individual who is considering commencing Acas conciliation and would still be in time to do so as of 2 December, you may want to wait until then as you will be given double the time for conciliation. This in turn means you will be given more time to decide whether you want to issue a claim in the Employment Tribunal once Acas conciliation ends. 

The amendment can be found at this link : 

The Employment Tribunals (Early Conciliation: Exemptions and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

Please Contact us today for any further information.