• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Call us now: 01243 836 840   [email protected]
Pure Employment Law
  • Who We Are
    • Nicola Brown
    • Peter Stevens
    • Elena Elsam
    • David Jones
    • Linda Nye
    • Brenda Cherry
  • For Employers
    • Advice on HR and People issues
    • Investigations, Hearings and Appeals
    • Restructuring and Redundancy
    • Defending Employment Tribunal Claims
    • Dismissal of Senior Executives
    • Contracts, Handbooks and Policies
    • Employment Law Training
  • For Employees
    • Settlement Agreements
    • Workplace Issues including Disciplinary and Grievance
    • Bringing an Employment Tribunal Claim
  • Employment Law Events
  • Legal Updates
  • Testimonials
  • Vacancies
  • Contact us
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

ACAS Early Conciliation – some pitfalls!

29th May 2015/in News /by Nicola Brown

As we have previously reported, in order for a claimant to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal, they first have to contact ACAS in order to go through the Early Conciliation process. That process may be no more than the claimant telling ACAS that they do not wish to enter into conciliation with their former employer (as dealt with in our article here), but if they do not go through the process and get an Early Conciliation number they cannot proceed to bring a claim.

There have been a couple of recent cases on the impact of the scheme. In the first, Cranwell v Cullen (2015), Mrs Cullen alleged that she had been sexually harassed by her employer and had an injunction out against the employer and certain individuals who worked for them. She filed a claim in the Employment Tribunal without going through the Early Conciliation process. She believed that the Early Conciliation process would mean that she may have to conciliate with her employer, and this is something she did not want to do. The Employment Tribunal rejected her application as she had not complied with the statutory requirement to go through the Early Conciliation process. Mrs Cullen appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal rejected her appeal. They considered the Tribunal Rules of Procedure and the legislation and concluded that they did not give the Employment Judge any discretion to allow her claim to proceed, irrespective of the merits or otherwise of her reasons. If Mrs Cullen had sought specialist advice she would of course have discovered that her fears were ill founded, but sadly she did not.

The second case, Sterling v United Learning Trust (2015), is a cautionary tale about attention to detail and not leaving things to the last minute. In this case the claimant used a non legally qualified representative and they filed a claim with the Employment Tribunal four days before the time limit expired. She did have an Early Conciliation number, but some digits from this were omitted from the claim form. The Tribunal returned the form to her two days later, but wrongly addressed it so that it was not sent to Mrs Sterling or her representative, but rather to a neighbour’s house. When this was given to Mrs Sterling she immediately corrected the form and returned it to the Tribunal – but by now it was out of time. The Employment Judge rejected the application as being out of time.

Mrs Sterling appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. They rejected her appeal. The Rules of Procedure require the Employment Tribunal to reject a claim if the Early Conciliation number is missing, although a party may apply for a reconsideration of such a rejection. No such application was made by Mrs Sterling’s representative, and even though the representative was not legally qualified, the Employment Appeal Tribunal said the Employment Tribunal was entitled to conclude that no such application was forthcoming. The representative also failed to argue that it was not reasonably practicable for the employee to have lodged the claim in time. This argument may well have succeeded had it been made properly as the fault was, at least in part, by the Tribunal.

The moral in this case is clear – pay attention to detail and don’t trust unqualified representatives!

If you would like to talk through a situation you are dealing with, or if you need advice on any aspect of employment law, please contact any member of the Pure Employment Law team (01243 836840 or [email protected]).

Please note that this update is not intended to be exhaustive or be a substitute for legal advice. The application of the law in this area will often depend upon the specific facts and you are advised to seek specific advice on any given scenario.
Share this article
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.pureemploymentlaw.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pure-Employment-Law-logo.jpg 0 0 Nicola Brown https://www.pureemploymentlaw.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pure-Employment-Law-logo.jpg Nicola Brown2015-05-29 09:43:262015-05-29 11:32:24ACAS Early Conciliation – some pitfalls!

Join our mailing list

* = required field
Mailing Lists


Recent Legal Updates

  • What to expect during 2021 – employment law developments 21st January 2021
  • Did “office banter” about an employee’s memory amount to age discrimination? 21st January 2021
  • Update on Furlough 20th January 2021
  • Restricting Restrictive Covenants? 20th January 2021
  • Q&A: What to expect from a remote Tribunal hearing 20th January 2021
Link to: Contact Us

Any questions? Why not get in touch!

Our advice is always given in plain English without any waffle, and we focus on providing practical solutions to our clients’ problems.

Contact us

LEGAL INFORMATION

Pure Employment Law | 1 Little London, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1PH
[email protected] | Tel: 01243 836840

Pure Employment Law is the trading name of Pure Employment Law Limited, registered in England and Wales with company number 07134294 and whose registered office is 1 Little London, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1PH. Pure Employment Law Limited is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with registration number 533794. A list of the company’s directors is available for inspection at the registered office

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by Pure Employment Law and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Terms & Conditions | How to make a complaint | Sitemap

© Pure Employment Law 2021

Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies as defined in our cookie policy.

Accept Cookie Policy

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy
Accept settingsHide notification only