More than 150,000 early conciliation notifications reached Acas in 2025/26, up 27% from a year earlier and marking record demand on the employment dispute system.
Acas said it still settled 80% of individual cases and 93% of collective cases, while adding conciliators, launching an Early Contact Team and developing AI-assisted dispute resolution.
Separately, a new Practice Statement lets legal officers under judges' supervision reject some defective claims, seek more information, make certain case-management orders, strike out inactive claims and list preliminary hearings.
Parties can still ask an employment judge to reconsider a legal officer's decision, as tribunals shift routine procedural work away from judges.
Both moves aim to ease mounting caseload pressure before Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms are expected to drive more workplace disputes and tribunal claims.