Grievances, Acas and Employment Tribunals: The Order You Have to Do Things In

Most workplace problems in the United Kingdom are resolved without a lawyer, without a tribunal and without anybody losing their job. The reason people end up with a bad outcome is rarely that the law was against them. It is usually that they raised the problem in the wrong way, in the wrong order, or after a deadline they did not know existed.

This article sets out the actual sequence — informal, formal grievance, Acas early conciliation, tribunal — and the specific traps at each stage. It is written for someone working in the UK who has a problem now and is not sure what the first move is.

Start informally, and do it in writing anyway

The first step for almost every issue is to raise it with the immediate manager. This sounds like advice that can be skipped. It cannot, for two reasons. The first is that a large majority of problems — a rota that keeps breaking, a missing hour on a payslip, a colleague’s behaviour — genuinely do get fixed at this stage. The second is that a tribunal will later look at whether the worker gave the employer a fair chance to put things right, and a claimant who escalated straight to a formal claim without ever mentioning the issue is in a weaker position.

Raise it in conversation if that is more comfortable, then send a short follow-up message the same day: what was discussed, what was agreed, and when. Two sentences is enough. That message costs nothing and converts a conversation nobody can prove into a documented one.

The formal grievance

If the informal route fails or is not appropriate, the next stage is a formal grievance. Most employers have a written grievance procedure in the staff handbook or the contract. Where none exists, the Acas Code of Practice sets the expected standard, and a tribunal applies it.

A grievance letter should be short and factual. State what happened, with dates. State what rule, term or policy you say has been breached, in plain words — you do not need to cite legislation. State what outcome you are asking for. Avoid characterising motives, avoid listing every historical annoyance, and avoid threats of legal action; none of those improve the outcome and all of them make the letter easier to dismiss.

The employer should then hold a meeting, investigate, and give a decision in writing with a right of appeal. Three entitlements attach to that meeting and they are frequently unknown:

• You have a statutory right to be accompanied at a formal grievance or disciplinary hearing by a colleague or a trade union representative. The employer cannot refuse a reasonable request.
• The companion may address the hearing and confer with you, though they do not answer questions on your behalf.
• If your chosen companion is not available, you may propose an alternative time within five working days.

Where an employer unreasonably fails to follow the Acas Code, a tribunal can increase any compensation awarded by up to twenty-five per cent. The same uplift works in reverse: a claimant who unreasonably refused to engage with the procedure can have an award reduced by up to twenty-five per cent. This is the practical reason to go through the process properly even when it feels futile.

Deadlines: the part that ends most claims

Time limits in the employment tribunal are short and are enforced strictly. For most claims — unfair dismissal, unlawful deduction from wages, discrimination — the limit is three months less one day from the act complained of, or from the effective date of termination in a dismissal case.

Two things about that deadline matter enormously.

First, an internal grievance or appeal does not pause the clock. Workers routinely spend four months in an internal appeal process, receive a decision, and discover that the right to claim expired while they were waiting. If the deadline is approaching and the internal process is unfinished, start early conciliation anyway. Doing so does not commit you to a claim.

Second, extensions are rare. In discrimination cases a tribunal may extend where it is just and equitable; in unfair dismissal it can only extend where it was not reasonably practicable to claim in time, which is a narrow test. Not knowing about the deadline is generally not enough.

Acas early conciliation is compulsory

Before lodging most tribunal claims you must notify Acas and obtain an early conciliation certificate. This is a mandatory procedural step; a claim filed without a certificate number will not proceed.

Early conciliation is free and confidential. An Acas conciliator contacts both sides and explores whether a resolution is possible. Nothing said during conciliation can be used later at a tribunal. Neither side is obliged to settle, and refusing to settle is not held against anyone.

Critically, notifying Acas stops the clock on the tribunal time limit for the duration of the conciliation period, and a further short extension applies after the certificate is issued. This is why contacting Acas early is the correct move even for someone who has not decided whether to claim: it is the only readily available way to buy time on a deadline that otherwise cannot be moved.

A large share of disputes end here, often with an agreed reference, an agreed leaving date, or a payment. That is a normal outcome, not a failure.

Dismissal: what is actually being tested

A dismissal is not unlawful merely because it was harsh or because the worker disagrees with it. A tribunal examines two things: whether the employer had a potentially fair reason, and whether it acted reasonably in treating that reason as sufficient, including the fairness of the procedure followed.

The potentially fair reasons are conduct, capability or qualifications, redundancy, breach of a statutory restriction, and “some other substantial reason”. Within those, procedure carries real weight — an employer with a genuine conduct concern that dismisses without investigating, without a hearing, and without an appeal can lose a case it would otherwise have won.

The qualifying service position is in transition and should be checked rather than assumed. The long-standing rule has been that ordinary unfair dismissal requires two years’ continuous service. Reform legislated in 2025 converts protection from unfair dismissal into a day-one right, subject to a statutory initial period of employment with a lighter procedure, with commencement expected during 2027. Anyone whose dismissal falls near that transition should confirm the position in force on their own dismissal date.

Separately — and this has always been true — a category of dismissals is automatically unfair with no qualifying period at all. These include dismissal for pregnancy or maternity, for asserting a statutory right such as the minimum wage or paid holiday, for whistleblowing, for trade union membership or activity, for raising health and safety concerns, and for jury service. Someone dismissed two months into a job after complaining about unpaid wages is not without a remedy simply because they were new.

Discrimination is a separate track

Claims under the Equality Act 2010 do not require any period of service and are available to job applicants as well as employees. The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Race includes colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origins — which is the provision most directly relevant to migrant workers.

Discrimination can be direct, indirect, by way of harassment, or by way of victimisation for having complained. Indirect discrimination is the one most often missed: a rule applied to everyone equally can still be unlawful if it puts a group sharing a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage and the employer cannot justify it. A blanket English-fluency requirement for a role that does not need it is a standard textbook example.

For disability, the duty to make reasonable adjustments is an active obligation on the employer, not something a worker must litigate to obtain. Asking for an adjustment in writing is the step that starts it.

Cost, representation and settlement

There is currently no fee to bring an employment tribunal claim. Fees were introduced in 2013 and quashed by the Supreme Court in 2017; proposals to reintroduce a modest fee have been consulted on but not implemented. Verify the current position before assuming either way.

Costs orders are unusual in the employment tribunal, unlike in the civil courts. Each side normally bears its own costs, and an unsuccessful claimant is not routinely ordered to pay the employer’s legal bill. Costs are reserved for conduct that is vexatious, abusive or unreasonable, or for a claim with no reasonable prospect of success.

Representation is not required. Many claimants present their own cases, and tribunals are accustomed to it. Free help may be available through a trade union, a law centre, Citizens Advice, or a university law clinic. Some household insurance policies include legal expenses cover for employment disputes — worth checking before paying for advice.

If a settlement agreement is offered, note that it is only binding if you have received independent legal advice on its terms from a qualified adviser, and the employer is expected to contribute towards the cost of that advice. Do not sign one without taking the advice; signing away a claim you did not know you had is the risk it is designed to eliminate.

Anti-scam: exploitation around disputes

Workers in dispute are targeted, because they are anxious and on a deadline.

• “Claims companies” charging upfront fees to lodge a free tribunal claim, or taking a large percentage of an award for filling in a form.
• People who offer to “handle Acas for you” for money. Acas is free and speaks to you directly.
• Advisers who guarantee an outcome or a figure. No one can. Anyone who does is selling, not advising.
• Pressure to sign a settlement immediately without independent advice, or to sign a document in English that has not been explained.
• Threats about immigration status used to suppress a complaint. Employment rights including the minimum wage apply regardless of status, and an employer using status as leverage is describing its own misconduct, not yours. Take advice before acting, but do not assume you have no remedy.

Never pay a fee to a private company for a service that Acas, Citizens Advice or the tribunal provides free.

Where to get free, impartial help

• Acas — Free workplace advice for employees and employers, plus the mandatory early conciliation service.
• Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures — The standard a tribunal measures an employer against.
• Make a claim to an employment tribunal (GOV.UK) — Official explanation of the process and time limits.
• Dismissal: your rights (GOV.UK) — What counts as fair, unfair, constructive and wrongful dismissal.
• Equality and Human Rights Commission — Guidance on the Equality Act and the protected characteristics.
• Citizens Advice — work — Free local advice, useful where language or paperwork is the barrier.

The order of operations, in one paragraph

Raise it informally and confirm it in writing. If that fails, submit a short factual grievance and take a colleague or union rep to the meeting. Watch the three-month-less-one-day clock from the day the thing happened, not from the day the internal process ends. Notify Acas before that clock runs down, because notifying stops it. Engage with early conciliation properly. Only if that fails does a tribunal claim follow — free to lodge, rarely costly to lose, and better prepared by someone who has kept every document from the first day.

Disclaimer: This article is general career information only. It is not a job advertisement, not a recruitment notice, and not affiliated with any employer or government body. It is not immigration or legal advice. UK immigration and employment rules change frequently and are applied case by case, so always verify the current position on the official UK government website before acting. Salary figures quoted anywhere online are indicative of what is commonly advertised and are not guaranteed. Only a signed contract of employment binds anyone. Never pay money to get a job.