Conciliation officer meaning

The early conciliation (EC) requirement The early conciliation (EC) requirement, sometimes called mandatory Acas early conciliation, obliges a prospective claimant to approach Acas with specified details before lodging an employment tribunal claim. It was brought in to: give Acas a chance to foster early resolution of employment disputes; and lessen the need for claims to reach the employment tribunal Acas conciliation entails an impartial Acas conciliation officer (a conciliator) speaking with both sides about the contested matters to help them better understand one another’s positions. The officer supports the parties in reaching their own settlement, so a tribunal hearing is not required. For more on Acas conciliation in general, see Practice Note: Acas conciliation. Prospective claimants must meet the EC requirement for the majority of employment tribunal claims. See also: relevant proceedings and extension of time limits—checklist Does the early conciliation requirement apply?—flowchart Complying with the early conciliation requirement—flowchart For guidance...

Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) Acas is an independent, publicly funded organisation that champions sound employment relations and supports employers and employees to prevent or resolve workplace disputes. Its services include conciliation, mediation and arbitration. Conciliation entails an impartial officer (a conciliator) talking through the disputed matters with both sides in order to help each appreciate the other’s position. The conciliator aims to encourage the parties in dispute to reach an agreement between themselves, thereby removing the need for an employment tribunal hearing. Where conciliation overseen by an officer results in agreement — a COT3 agreement — it constitutes one of the two exceptions to the “contracting out provisions” that apply to most employment protection legislation. Those provisions set a basic principle that any term in an agreement which purports to stop a person bringing, or continuing with, a claim in the employment tribunal is void to that extent. The purpose of the contracting out provisions is to safeguard claimants (or potential claimants) against signing away their...

Before the full hearing, the parties may decide to settle the issues raised by the appeal between them, or choose to withdraw the appeal altogether. The Practice Direction describes the procedure to be followed where an appellant seeks to withdraw, or where the parties agree the appeal ought to be allowed by consent. Alternative dispute resolution The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) supports alternative dispute resolution and, in particular, the involvement of an Acas officer in appeals that appear amenable to conciliation. Its approach to conciliation is consistent with the following: its authority to take whatever steps it considers appropriate to enable parties to avail themselves of any opportunities for conciliation, whether by adjourning any proceedings or otherwise; and furthering the overriding objective, which includes: ensuring cases are dealt with expeditiously and fairly; and saving expense In all cases, the parties should, and when so directed must, consider using alternative dispute...