The role of Acas

1. The role of Acas Malcolm Phillips 24th February 2014

2. how we help you Agenda who are we? our areas of expertise

3. Section One Who are we?

4. Who are we? Up to date Independent Confidential Practical Impartial Our aim is to improve organisations and working life through better employment relations

5. Who are we? East of England - Bury St Edmunds Yorkshire and Humber – Leeds East Midlands - Nottingham Trainers London - London North East - Newcastle Extensive knowledge North West – Liverpool, Manchester Scotland - Glasgow South East – Fleet Local economics South West - Bristol Wales - Cardiff West Midlands - Birmingham Local needs

6. Section Two our areas of expertise

7. Area of expertise Conciliation Collective conciliation helps parties in dispute to reach or make progress towards agreed settlements which they all find acceptable Individual conciliation helps settle complaints about employee rights. Nearly all complaints to Employment Tribunals come to Acas Pre-claim conciliation helps settle complaints about employee rights before the point at which a claim is made to an employment tribunal

8. Collective conciliation • We help parties in dispute to reach or make progress towards agreed settlements which they all find acceptable • 871 requests for collective conciliation in 2012/13 • 93% success rate in resolving collective disputes

9. Collective conciliationCause of dispute 2012/13 Base: 871 requests for collective conciliation

10. Individual conciliation • Settle complaints about employees’ rights • Nearly all complaints to employment tribunals come to Acas

11. Individual conciliation Benefits of individual conciliation and pre-claim conciliation • voluntary agreement (and withdrawals) • fewer tribunal hearings • lower cost to the parties than tribunal • not in public domain • less stressful

12. Individual conciliation • 67,825 net cases received for conciliation from the Employment Tribunal Service during 2012/13 • 79% of potential hearing days saved

13. Individual conciliation Net cases received by Acas (2007/08 – 2012/13)

14. Individual conciliation Most common jurisdictions 2012/13 Base: 155,015 net jurisdictions

15. Arbitration • A voluntary means of settling disputes by inviting one or more impartial persons, within agreed terms of reference, to make an award which the disputing parties undertake in advance to accept • Service provided on behalf of Acas by Arbitrators from the Acas panel. • Free at point of delivery.

16. Area of expertise Mediation skills in management advise on a range of approaches trained mediators help you develop a workplace mediation scheme train and assess your mediators

17. Individual Mediation2012/13 • 235 charged-for mediations in individual disputes started in 2012/13 with a success rate of 91% • Approximately 300 delegates trained on the Certificate in Internal Workplace Mediation (CIWM) course in 2012/13 • All CIWM delegates surveyed in 2012/13 reported that the course met their learning needs either completely or to a large extent

18. Area of expertise Training solutions in-depth sessions on employment issues key point sessions for small businesses chargeable fee workplace projects flexible and adaptable individual workplaces hands on practical sessions

19. Acas training solutions2012/13 • More than 9,000 delegates reached by open access training courses • 949 bespoke training events delivered to more than 18,000 delegates • Discipline and grievance most popular topic for both open access and workplace training (around 25% of courses) • 98% of all delegates were satisfied with Acas’ charged training events

20. Area of expertise Business solutions job evaluation communication, consultation & negotiation skills for supervisors change management stress management improving employee relations

21. Business Solutions (workplace projects) In the last evaluation carried out in 2012: • 90% of management and 87% of employee representatives were satisfied with the intervention • 92% would recommend the service • Eight out of ten management reps and seven out of ten employee reps reported that the main aim of the project had been achieved

22. Business Solutions (workplace projects)Topics 2012-13 Base: 249 workplace projects

23. Helpline • Approximately 930,000 calls answered by the Acas Helpline in 2012/13 • The most common call topic was ‘discipline, dismissals and grievances’ accounting for 36% of enquiries • 1,976 calls to Equality Direct during 2012/13 • 94% of callers satisfied with the overall service received from the Acas Helpline in the last evaluation

24. HelplineVolume of calls (2004/05 – 2012-13)

25. HelplineCall subjects 2012-13 Base: 928,995 calls

26. Website • We continue to see high volumes of traffic to our website with 4.6 million visits during 2012/13. We have also noticed a huge increase of people accessing the website via mobile devices. • To engage with our mobile customers more efficiently we created a mobile version of the website in January 2013.

27. Website • During 2012/13 we continued to develop our online media content and created more podcasts on social media and mental health. • We saw a further increase in followers on Twitter who are engaging in conversations by re-tweeting our messages, and mentioning Acas' services in their own tweets. • The Acas LinkedIn group has become the ‘go to’ place for HR managers looking for employment relations information and advice.

28. Publications/Guidance • New guidance on managing to collective redundancies • Acas Code of Practice on discipline and grievance continued to be the best seller during 2011/12 • Move to electronic delivery of more of Acas publications via the website continues • Provided free checklists, tools and useful templates

29. Section Three how we help

30. Services mediation conciliation your place or our place workplace scheme training flexible and tailored for you easy access immediate advice

31. Reputation tried and tested courses long standing relationships I really appreciated learning alongside like-minded people in a friendly and informal environment. Fruit of the Loom Thoroughly enjoyed the training. Excellently delivered and well-presented. Made a difficult situation easy to understand and applied in the working environment. AALPS I would use Acas training again and I will continue to use Acas workshops that are run regionally as they are concise, easy to understand and excellent value for money. Allergy Therapeutics

32. Cost effective non profit organisation stability focus on HR excellence WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN

33. Area of expertise ? Problem solving. . . more effective workplace save you time and money unlock potential Everyday workplace disputes. . . . . .to more complex situations advise train inform work with you

34. People 1994: 1st public body to be awarded investors in people 2011: awarded 6th time to Acas and achieved Bronze Standard

35. People supported by the government vast expertise practical advice understand local needs & economies

36. publications mediation workplace training training sessions helpline How Acas can help Customer services team 08457 38 37 36

37. Acas contact information Acas helpline * 08457 47 47 47 Acas website www.acas.org.uk Customer Services Team: 08457 38 37 36 www.gov.uk

38. Acas Training www.acas.org.uk/training Managing absence at work Discipline & grievance at work Conducting investigations Employment law update Recruitment, selection and induction Contracts of employment Equality and diversity Essential skills for supervisors Redundancy and restructuring Having difficult conversations