The 2009/2010 Acas report has been released, and shows that the conciliation service:
- Handled over 900 collective actions (most of which involved industrial action or collective redundancies).
- Provided conciliation services in more than 85,000 employment tribunal actions - the highest rate ever for the service, and 13% up on the 2008/2009 total.
- Dealt with over one million calls on its helpline.
- Handled more than 10,000 "pre-claim" conciliations - this relates to claims in which Acas is requested by the parties involved to conciliate in a case before tribunal actions are commenced.
Regarding pre-claim conciliations, the report shows that in more than 70% of these cases, tribunal proceedings were avoided. It also quoted a study which found that a company can spend £2,000 in getting to the stage in a claim where an ET3 is filed, so the savings Acas has facilitated for businesses are substantial.
Ed Sweeney, chair of Acas, commented: "We continue to deal first-hand with the effects of recession and the immense strain it places on workplace relations. We are seeing signs of improvement with employers and unions taking a more pragmatic approach to working together, looking at ways to try and save jobs and avoid redundancies. This is in stark contrast to previous recessions.
"Overall, Acas provides excellent value - every pound of taxpayers' money invested in it creates a return of up to £16."
While social and economic changes over the past twenty years may have been largely responsible for the new flexibility employers and employees are demonstrating when it comes to avoiding job losses, Acas has clearly played an important role in educating employers on alternatives to redundancy.
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