Pre-Claim Conciliation Becoming a Successful Measure
By an amendment in Employment Act in 2009, the concept of pre-claim conciliation was introduced in order to help in resolution of disputes before they reach Employment Tribunals. Tribunals are overburdened and take a lot of time to resolve disputes. According to Acas (the employment relation service) Chair, Ed Sweeney, this new process takes much less time as compared to tribunals, which makes it a favoured choice.
Acas runs a helpline to aid and advise disputing parties. It released its data in March, 2010 which supports the conclusion that it is being increasingly sought out in such disputes. The number of cases being referred to this free service has doubled in last two quarters. There were more than 2,500 referrals made in the last three months of the last year and in the first three months of 2010, it seems that this number will increase by at least 20%. More than 8,000 referrals have been made by the helpline itself in last one year of the pre-claim conciliation coming into existence. It is claimed that it has stopped at least 5,000 disputes from undergoing the expensive process of an adjudication by a Tribunal.
The data suggests that Acas makes approximately 300 referrals every week and expects this number to increase to 400 referrals every week very soon. This is due to the growing demand for fast workplace dispute resolution. According to Mr. Sweeney, this could also cut down the losses that the companies often face due to long-term disputes. Workers’ productivity will remain high if disputes can be resolved fast and workers can come back to work.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is the professional body for those involved in the management and development of people. Workplace Law run CIPD courses throughout the
