Last week Acas, the Advisory, Conciliation, Arbitration Service, published its 2018-2019 report, giving us keen insight into current employment claim trends.
Individuals wanting to lodge a claim have to notify Acas before actually entering into proceedings; in turn Acas offers to try to settle the claim through its independent and voluntary early conciliation service.
The report boasts an increase on Acas staff training and outreach in order to combat the increase in demand for its services. Outgoing chair of the body, Sir Brendan Barber, commented:
“With the wellbeing of staff recognised as a major workplace issue, Acas has been at the forefront in developing a new framework for positive mental health at work that has already been used by some well-known British and international companies within their workplaces.”
Key facts and highlights from the report were:
- Pay related issues remain the top cause of disputes, yet Acas was able to facilitate an astonishing 84% of settlements in such claims.
- Overall notifications have increased by 21% compared to 2017-2018 and the number of cases involving a tribunal claim has increased by 40%.
- 73% of all notifications handled by Acas did not lead to a tribunal claim. And of those that did actually proceed to tribunal, the Acas conciliation service meant that a further 51% were settled and 18% were withdrawn by the individual claiming.
- The number of group disputes Acas dealt with was also on the rise; some 29,000 individuals split across 4,200 groups. The largest of which was a single equal pay claim that involved 12,000 individuals.
The full report can be found here.