Early conciliation has helped prevent over half of employment disputes progressing to a tribunal, statistics from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) suggest. 

Acas, which introduced the early conciliation service in April 2014, said it has so far received over 83,000 notifications from people intending to make a claim to a tribunal. Since the service started employers must notify Acas about any disputes that they intend to take to a tribunal.

Of the notifications received, 73% have gone on to take part in conciliation, Acas said, with 11,000 cases (15%) reaching a formal settlement through early conciliation and a further 10% of cases resolved without the need for a formal written agreement.

By the end of March this year, 76% of those claims were resolved without the need for a tribunal. This suggests that 55% of disputes that would have gone to a tribunal are being settled by the service. 

Acas also said that its helpline service helped to prevent 25% of employees taking a claim to an employment tribunal.