Acas 2018-19 Annual Report
05 August 2019
The new annual report reveals continued high demand for Acas' conciliation service after the removal of tribunal fees in 2017.
Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) provide free and impartial information and advice to employers and employees on all aspects of workplace relations and employment law. People have to notify Acas before they lodge an employment tribunal claim. Acas then offers to reach a settlement to the dispute through its voluntary early conciliation service.
Acas has published its 2018-19 Annual Report which reveals another busy year for its individual dispute resolution service, seeing a further increase in demand following the Supreme Court decision in July 2017 to abolish employment tribunal fees.
Key facts and figures from this year's annual report include:
- Acas' individual dispute resolution service has continued to see an increase in demand. Overall, notifications have increased by 21 per cent compared to the same period the previous year and the number of cases involving a tribunal claim has increased by 40 per cent. Acas recruited and trained 98 new staff to meet the challenges of the increase in workload due to the abolition of tribunal fees.
- Acas continued to conciliate to prevent or resolve disputes between groups of workers and their employer with 607 national and regional disputes in a wide range of sectors in 2018/19. Pay or pay related matters was the top cause of disputes. Acas helped to settle 84 per cent of these disputes.
- There were 1,237,245 contacts through Acas' Helpine and advisory services such as the telephone helpline, helpline online, web chat and facebook messages.
- Acas trained nearly 50,000 people on a range of workplace topics including the latest changes in employment law.
- Acas uses insight gathered from its research and from working with millions of people, employers and stakeholders every year to inform and influence workplace policy and debate. This knowledge has led to Acas developing a new framework for positive mental health that has been presented at conferences and within workplaces across the country.
Further information about early conciliation is available on Acas’ website.