ACAS Early Conciliation
Plain-English definitions for England and Wales. General information, not legal advice. Laws and figures change - always check the current position on GOV.UK.
ACAS Early Conciliation A free, confidential service from ACAS that you must notify before you can bring most employment tribunal claims. A conciliator contacts both sides to see whether the dispute can be settled without a hearing. Notifying ACAS also pauses the tribunal time-limit clock while conciliation runs.
Also known as: EC, Early Conciliation, ACAS conciliation
Related terms
- ACAS conciliation certificate
- The certificate ACAS issues at the end of Early Conciliation, whether or not the dispute settled. You cannot present most tribunal claims without its unique reference number. Once it is issued you have the longer of the time left on your original deadline, or one month from the certificate date, to file the ET1.
- Time limit (limitation period)
- The deadline for bringing a claim. For most employment tribunal claims it is 3 months less 1 day from the event you are complaining about, and you must notify ACAS to start Early Conciliation within that window. Statutory redundancy pay and equal pay claims have a 6-month limit.
- COT3
- A settlement recorded through ACAS (named after the form) that settles a tribunal claim or potential claim. Unlike a settlement agreement, a COT3 does not require the employee to take independent legal advice.
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