This April sees the introduction of a new ACAS early conciliation service, designed to nip employment tribunal claims in the bud.

Individuals wishing to bring claims against an employer will first need to contact ACAS. All that they need to do is to give the contact details of themselves and the employer. ACAS will then contact the employer to see whether there is any appetite to settling the issue before a claim is brought. I

ndividuals who have gone through this process – whether or not it results in a settlement – will be given a certificate to forward to the employment tribunal. The rule will be no certificate, no claim.

This new process is one of a number of recent changes to employment law designed to discourage claims. Two years ago, the Government increased the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims, so that employees now have to clock up two years’ service (instead of only one) before they can bring a claim.

Last year, the Government capped the maximum amount of cash that an employee can win in an unfair dismissal claim at one year’s pay (£74,200 for higher earners). Last year also saw the introduction of fees for employment tribunal claims, meaning that employees now must find £250 just to kick off an unfair dismissal claim, and a further £950 if the case goes to a hearing.

Reports indicate that tribunal claims for unfair dismissal have dropped by more than 40 per cent as a result of these changes – a great result for employers, who may at last feel that the Government is on their side in their daily battle with the labyrinth of employment legislation.

Whilst this is all good news, employers should not be complacent. Other legislation is due to hit over the course of the next year which will make their lives more difficult. This includes the Government’s plan to extend the right to flexible working to all employees. Currently, employees have to be parents or carers in order to request part time working, home working or other flexible arrangements. Later this year, any employee will be able to make this request – whether they need the altered hours to look after a disabled child, to care for their menagerie of animals, or simply because they fancy a bit more time to tend their roses.

Employers faced with competing requests for flexible working are likely to struggle to decide which requests to grant. Equally, next year parents of newborn babies will be able to ask to share out 50 weeks of the mother’s maternity leave between them. They can even ask to take this in alternate one-week blocks. Whilst employers will have to agree to the arrangements proposed, the time taken to deal with these requests is valuable time taken away from running the business.

So, whilst the tide may be turning in favour of employers, there are still some tidal surges to battle against over coming months.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please contact our Employment Law Director, Brian Harrington, on 01904 561433 or brian.harrington@lf-dt.com