Acas's revamped Code puts informal resolution and mediation on a statutory footing for the first time. We look at what that means for employers weighing up cost, culture and compliance.
Workplace conflict in the UK costs an estimated 28.5 billion per year overall - an average of around 1,000 for every UK worker. A significant proportion of this comes from the cost of running disciplinary and grievance procedures, estimated at 2.36 billion per year. These figures underline the scale of the problem and the pressing need for more effective, earlier intervention.
When the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures was launched in 2009, the aim was to replace rigid, statutory procedures with a flexible, principles-based approach to resolving workplace disputes. A strong emphasis of the Code was on an employer’s ability to use internal procedures to resolve disputes, with the hope of avoiding escalation to formal litigation.
Now, with consultation open on the new, significantly revamped Code, the landscape is changing again and we have written about what’s proposed – and not proposed – in detail here. For many employers and their HR teams, the shift towards informal resolution and mediation represents a significant opportunity to reduce cost, preserve working relationships, and achieve better outcomes for all parties.
Under the current Code, informal resolution of workplace issues has largely sat outside the formal statutory...
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