Failure to undertake early conciliation can be rectified
In Thomas v Nationwide Building Society an employment tribunal considered the question of a tribunal’s jurisdiction to hear a claim where the claimant had failed to follow the Acas early conciliation procedure. Ms Thomas claimed in her ET1 that she had been subjected to a detriment after she had made a protected disclosure. In the ET3 Nationwide argued that Ms Thomas did not have jurisdiction because she had not embarked on Acas early conciliation and also argued her claim was out of time.
Following its introduction set out in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, early conciliation is now compulsory in most cases.