Early conciliation certificates: further claims allowed?

In Compass Group UK & Ireland Ltd v Morgan UKEAT/0060/16/RN the EAT looked at whether claims that arose after an early conciliation (EC) certificate had been issued could be included in the original claim to the tribunal. The EAT found that the legislation introducing the procedure did not require the claimant to provide all of the facts to the dispute. It merely required that the claimant provided the names and addresses of the parties.

In this case the new claims were failure to make reasonable adjustments and constructive dismissal. The EC certificate had been issued in relation to alleged demotion and change of workplace. The new claims related to the same matter and therefore they could be included in the claim to the tribunal.

The EAT stated that early conciliation is a voluntary process. There is no duty to participate. It stated: “in particular if the claimant does not wish to do so, ACAS issues an EC certificate to the prospective claimant showing that compliance has been made with the duty under s 18A(1)”.