To complete the Acas early conciliation form, you provide your name and address as the claimant and the full legal name and address of each employer or individual you intend to name as a respondent, then submit online, by telephone, or by post. Acas confirms receipt with a reference number, contacts both sides to explore a settlement, and, when conciliation ends, issues the certificate you need before an employment tribunal will accept a claim.1Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Tribunals Act 1996 – Section 18A
What the Form Asks For
The Early Conciliation Rules of Procedure require two categories of information: your name and address as the claimant, and the name and address of each prospective respondent.2Legislation.gov.uk. The Employment Tribunals (Early Conciliation: Exemptions and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2014 That is the legal minimum. You do not have to set out the facts of your dispute on the form itself; the conciliator will discuss those with you by phone once your case is assigned.
Since December 2021, a single notification can list more than one respondent. Before that change, each respondent required a separate form.3Spencer West. Early Conciliation Changes
Naming the Respondent Correctly
This is the field to get right. Your respondent is usually your employer, not a line manager or a colleague as an individual. For discrimination claims you can also name individual managers or colleagues as separate respondents, and you need a separate early conciliation certificate for each individual you intend to name.
Use the employer’s full legal name, not a trading name or an abbreviation. If your employer is a limited company, the registered name appears on Companies House, on your contract of employment, or on recent payslips. Enter the registered office address so that legal correspondence reaches the right place.
The reason this matters: if the name on your certificate does not match the name on the ET1 claim form you later file, a judge could reject the claim. A mismatch between certificate and ET1 is one of the most common reasons claim forms are initially rejected. Since December 2020, Acas can contact you during the conciliation period to correct errors or fill in missing details before the certificate is finalised, so respond promptly if they get in touch. Where a mismatch still slips through, a tribunal judge has discretion to accept the claim if the error is minor and rejecting it would be unjust, but that is a safety net, not a plan.
How to Submit
You have three options.
- Online at acas.org.uk/early-conciliation. The digital service is available around the clock and gives you immediate confirmation.4Acas. Early Conciliation
- By telephone on 0300 123 11 22, where an Acas adviser takes your details over the phone. Useful if you cannot access the online form or run into technical problems.
- By post. Acas accepts paper notifications, but this is the slowest route and creates a gap before your tribunal time limit is paused.
After you submit, Acas sends a confirmation email or letter with a reference number.5Acas. How the Process Works – Early Conciliation Save it. You will need it for every future communication about the case and for the ET1 claim form if the dispute reaches the tribunal.
What Happens After You Submit
Once Acas has what it needs, your case is assigned to a conciliator, who asks whether you want to take part in early conciliation.5Acas. How the Process Works – Early Conciliation If you agree, the conciliator contacts both you and the respondent, usually by phone, to understand the dispute and explore whether a settlement is possible. The conciliator is impartial and relays positions and offers between the two sides so you rarely negotiate face to face.4Acas. Early Conciliation
Participation is voluntary. Either side can decline or stop at any point. The process can run for up to 12 weeks by law, and if you decline or the conciliator concludes settlement is unlikely, it ends sooner.5Acas. How the Process Works – Early Conciliation When conciliation ends, Acas issues the Early Conciliation Certificate with a unique reference number that goes on your ET1 form.6GOV.UK. Make a Claim to an Employment Tribunal – Before You Make a Claim If you named more than one respondent, you receive a separate certificate for each.
Submit Before Your Tribunal Time Limit Runs Out
The timing of when you send the form matters as much as what is on it. Most employment tribunal claims must be filed within three months minus one day of the event you are complaining about. A smaller group, including statutory redundancy pay and equal pay, runs on six months minus one day.7Acas. Employment Tribunal Time Limits
Notifying Acas within that limit pauses the clock while early conciliation runs, and once you have the certificate you have at least one month from its date to file at the tribunal, even if your original deadline fell during the conciliation period.5Acas. How the Process Works – Early Conciliation If you contact Acas after your deadline has already passed, the pause does not apply and a tribunal is unlikely to accept the claim. Submit online rather than by post when you are close to the limit, so the notification lands the same day.
When You Do Not Need the Form
A small number of claim types are exempt from early conciliation. Section 18A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 also creates exemptions where Acas has already been contacted and considers a settlement impossible, where Acas cannot reach the respondent or the claimant, or where a system failure prevents the claimant from contacting Acas at all.1Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Tribunals Act 1996 – Section 18A In multi-claimant cases against the same employer, such as equal pay group claims, a claimant may be exempt where another person in the group has already completed early conciliation. Acas itself cannot advise on whether your particular claim qualifies, so take independent legal advice if you think an exemption might apply.