ACAS Early Conciliation Period Doubles on 1st December 2025
Currently the ACAS Early Conciliation period is 6 weeks and from 1st December 2025 will increase to 12 weeks.
However, the 3 month limitation period in which a claim can be made to Tribunal remains the same.
Early conciliation is a legal process that lasts for a limited time following an employee or former employee contacting ACAS to make a claim to an employment tribunal. During early conciliation, an ACAS conciliator will work with both parties to reach a legal agreement to prevent going to an employment tribunal.
With waiting times for a tribunal hearing increasing to several year, the extended early conciliation period will allow more time for discussion to reach an agreement and reduce claims going to tribunal. With the Employment Rights Bill giving Day 1 rights to all employees though this may cause additional claims and load on tribunals.
We’ll wait to see what the Day 1 rights and what any legal “probation” period will be in detail once the Bill is passed. It may be that employers will have look at pragmatic resolution in conciliation period to prevent years of ongoing uncertainty and involvement.
