Acas has published its
annual report and accounts for the year ending 31 March 2010 which shows a
steep increase in workload, especially in unfair dismissal cases and that the new
pre-claim conciliation service introduced in April 2009 has proved very popular.
Acas has published its
annual report for the year ending 31 March 2010, giving a picture of the state
of individual and collective dispute resolution in Britain. The number of individual
employment claims referred to Acas for conciliation rose by 13% to 87,421 (up
from 77,478 in 2008/09) of which 70.8% were resolved. Unfair dismissal was the
most common type of claim and featured in 64,878 cases referred to Acas, nearly
10,000 more than last year. The number of collective disputes referred to Acas
dropped by 6% to 905.
The new pre-claim
conciliation (PCC) service introduced in April 2009 has proved very popular and
successful in avoiding the need for proceedings to be issued. Acas received
nearly 10,000 PCC referrals, of which the overwhelming majority concerned
unfair dismissal, deduction of wages and/or breach of contract. It hopes to see
this number doubled in its second year. A third of PCC referrals resulted in
resolution, with the most common reason for failure being the employer’s
unwillingness to engage in the process.
September 2010
This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal and appellate court cases are reported, the information does not set out all of the facts, the legal arguments presented and the judgments made in every aspect of the case. Employment law is subject to constant change either by statute or by interpretation by the courts. While every care has been taken in compiling this information, we cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Specialist legal advice must be taken on any legal issues that may arise before embarking upon any formal course of action.
