Employment Tribunals

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

The procedural rules for the bringing of, and responding to, claims in the employment tribunal, and their subsequent management and determination, are set out in the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024 (ET Rules 2024), SI 2024/1155. For the early conciliation rules, see Practice Note: Early conciliation rules (rules applying from Sunday 20 April 2014).

The early conciliation requirement

Acas conciliation involves an independent Acas conciliation officer (also known as a conciliator) discussing the issues in dispute with both parties in order to help them reach a better understanding of each other's position. The conciliation officer tries to encourage the parties in dispute to come to an agreement between themselves so as to avoid the need for a tribunal hearing.

For further information on Acas conciliation generally, see Practice Note: Acas conciliation.

The early conciliation (EC) requirement (also known as mandatory Acas early conciliation) is an obligation on a prospective claimant to contact Acas with certain information prior to submitting a claim in the employment tribunal.

The EC requirement applies to 'relevant proceedings', ie:

  1. •

    those proceedings listed in section 18(1) Employment Tribunals Act 1996, which includes

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

Existing user? Sign-in TAKE A FREE TRIAL
Powered by Lexis+®
Latest Employment News

Employment weekly highlights—5 June 2025

This edition of Employment weekly highlights includes: (1) an analysis of the recent immigration White Paper by Ben Maitland of Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law, (2) an analysis of reforms to reduce discrimination in the Local Government Pension Scheme by David Gallagher and Daniel Fowler at Fieldfisher, (3) an EAT decision that a claimant’s aversion to wearing a mask lacked the necessary cogency, seriousness, and cohesion to qualify as a protected philosophical belief, (4) an ET decision that a teacher’s dismissal was not the result of her whistleblowing over the school’s policy on trans children, (5) an analysis of a Court of Appeal decision that UK gender recognition certificates do not allow gender to be recorded as non-binary by Harini Iyengar at 11KBW, (6) a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research on the challenges surrounding surveillance in the workplace, (7) the publication of the latest UK Stewardship Code by the Financial Reporting Council, (8) new guidance and legislation on amendments to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, (9) a successful appeal to the EAT against a ‘gisting order’ in an unfair dismissal claim amid national security concerns, (10) two new Practice Notes on providing toilet, washing and changing facilities in the workplace following the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers, and on the right to disconnect produced in partnership with Rosie Moore and Simon Swaine of Lewis Silkin, (11) dates for your diary, and (12) other news items of interest to employment practitioners.

Teacher fails to prove trans whistleblowing led to dismissal

Law360: An employment tribunal (ET) has dismissed a teacher's claim that she lost her job after blowing the whistle during a feud over the handling of a child who wished to change gender.

WEC publishes follow-up report on music industry misogyny

The Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) has published a follow-up report examining progress on recommendations from its January 2024 inquiry into misogyny in the music industry. The original inquiry found endemic discrimination and harassment of women in the sector. The committee heard evidence that 32% of women musicians experienced sexual harassment, with higher rates among disabled and LGBT+ performers. The latest report has found minimal industry changes and highlights the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) as a major concern.  The report also expresses support for the creation of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), and urges the government invest in CIISA financially and ideologically.

PLSA updates 2025 retirement living standards with revised costs and terminology

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has released its 2024–25 retirement living standards, illustrating decreased minimum retirement costs at £21,600 for two-person households and £13,400 for one-person households, primarily due to reduced energy prices. In contrast, the moderate and comfortable standards depict modest increases in line with inflation. The update further modernises the language by replacing ‘single’ and ‘couple’ with ‘one-person’ and ‘two-person’ households, thereby recognising diverse living arrangements in retirement. Detailed estimates on the annuity fund sizes required to achieve these standards are also provided, underscoring the advantages of shared living costs and offering a practical guide for personalised retirement planning.

View Employment by content type :  
News
Practice notes
Precedents
Q&As

Popular documents

When submitting an ET3 response, is the respondent required to copy the claimant into the email, or is it

When submitting an ET3 response, is the respondent required to copy the claimant into the email, or is it sufficient to submit the ET3 response to the employment tribunal (ie does rule 92 apply in relation to submission of ET3)?The procedure relating to employment tribunal claims is governed by the

Employer's contract claim (counterclaim) in the employment tribunal

Employer's contract claim (counterclaim) in the employment tribunalThis Practice Note examines the circumstances in which an employer may make a contractual counterclaim against an employee in relation to a claim by the employee for breach of contract, under the Employment Tribunals Extension of

Settlement, withdrawal, dismissal of claims and consent orders in the employment tribunal

Settlement, withdrawal, dismissal of claims and consent orders in the employment tribunalIn this Practice Note, where appropriate, references to ‘claimant’ include a respondent advancing a counterclaim and references to ‘respondent’ include a claimant replying to such a counterclaim.The parties

Disclosure in employment tribunal proceedings

Disclosure in employment tribunal proceedingsDocuments of one kind or another will form a significant part of the evidence in many employment tribunal cases. There is need for fair disclosure of them in the interests of justice. Many relevant documents will be in the possession of one party; for
When submitting an ET3 response, is the respondent required to copy the claimant into the email, or is it

When submitting an ET3 response, is the respondent required to copy the claimant into the email, or is it

When submitting an ET3 response, is the respondent required to copy the claimant into the email, or is it sufficient to submit the ET3 response to the employment tribunal (ie does rule 92 apply in relation to submission of ET3)?The procedure relating to employment tribunal claims is governed by the

Employer's contract claim (counterclaim) in the employment tribunal

Employer's contract claim (counterclaim) in the employment tribunal

Employer's contract claim (counterclaim) in the employment tribunalThis Practice Note examines the circumstances in which an employer may make a contractual counterclaim against an employee in relation to a claim by the employee for breach of contract, under the Employment Tribunals Extension of

Settlement, withdrawal, dismissal of claims and consent orders in the employment tribunal

Settlement, withdrawal, dismissal of claims and consent orders in the employment tribunal

Settlement, withdrawal, dismissal of claims and consent orders in the employment tribunalIn this Practice Note, where appropriate, references to ‘claimant’ include a respondent advancing a counterclaim and references to ‘respondent’ include a claimant replying to such a counterclaim.The parties

Disclosure in employment tribunal proceedings

Disclosure in employment tribunal proceedings

Disclosure in employment tribunal proceedingsDocuments of one kind or another will form a significant part of the evidence in many employment tribunal cases. There is need for fair disclosure of them in the interests of justice. Many relevant documents will be in the possession of one party; for