* The role of Acas Malcolm Phillips 24 th February 2014

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

* Section One Who are we?

Our aim is to improve organisations and working life through better employment relations Up to date Independent Confidential Practical Impartial

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

* Section Two our areas of expertise

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

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

Collective conciliation Cause of dispute 2012/13 Base: 871 requests for collective conciliation

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Individual Mediation 2012/ 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

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

Acas training solutions 2012/13 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

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

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

Business Solutions (workplace projects) Topics Base: 249 workplace projects

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

Helpline Volume of calls (2004/05 – )

Helpline Call subjects Base: 928,995 calls

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.

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.

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

* Section Three how we help

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

Reputation tried and tested courses long standing relationships 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 I really appreciated learning alongside like-minded people in a friendly and informal environment. Fruit of the Loom

non profit organisation stability focus on HR excellence Cost effective

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

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

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

How Acas can help helpline training sessions workplace training mediation publications Customer services team

Acas contact information Acas helpline Acas website Customer Services Team: *

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