ACAS keeps up record of sorting out employment tribunal complaints

Acas has kept up its good record of sorting out employment tribunal complaints. Figures in its Annual Report and Accounts 2004, published today, show that with Acas’ help three-quarters of applications were settled or withdrawn before they reached the
tribunal stage. The total number of applications rose slightly from
last year but the overall trend is flat.

Rita Donaghy, Acas Chair, said:

The number of people in work is at its highest level ever and new employment rights came into force during 2003. The fact that the number of applications to tribunals is lower than it was four years ago is a tribute to the effectiveness of our message that prevention is better than cure. Our good practice guidance helps employers keep up to date with employment law and have the right procedures in place to deal with problems promptly.

We have a statutory duty to contact both employer and employee when an application to tribunal is made. The skills and experience of Acas staff in conciliating between parties has contributed greatly towards ensuring that the number of cases reaching tribunals has stayed so low.

Commenting on Acas’ plans for the future Rita Donaghy continued:

We are already beginning to see results from our longer-term planning and will set out our aims and priorities in more detail in our forward plan Improving the World of Work, to be published next week. All our services are aimed at making workplaces more effective but what does an effective workplace look like? Using our unique practical experience we have now identified 12 key characteristics - a typically effective workplace will have at least some of them, with consultation and communication high on the list. We wil l be building on this work during the next few years.

Some of the facts and figures from this year’s Annual Report:

* There were 102,559 applications to tribunals compared to 94,453 last year. Of these 76,919 were settled or withdrawn so went no further than the Acas stage (compared with 72,728 last year). Unfair dismissal continues to be the largest category of complaint with more than one third of applications.

* The number of requests for Acas to intervene in employment disputes and conciliate between the two sides fell slightly from 1353 last year to 1245 this year. Pay continues to be the single biggest category

* The Acas helpline answered 796,649 calls compared to 723,615 last year

* We delivered good practice training to 35,000 delegates from organisations