Evaluation of the Acas Individual Conciliation Service

This study seeks to evaluate the Individual Conciliation service offered by Acas.

About the study

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) works with employers and employees to support good workplace relations. It provides services, advice and support with the aim of preventing and resolving workplace disputes.

Individual Conciliation (IC) is one of the main services offered by Acas. It supports employees and employers who are involved in an employment dispute, helping them try to reach an agreement without the need to go to an employment tribunal.

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and Frontier Economics have been commissioned by Acas to evaluate the Individual Conciliation (IC) service. The aim of the study is to understand how the service works in practice, how helpful it is for the people who use it, and where it could be improved. We are interested in hearing from both those who used the service and those who didn't.

As part of the project, people who have been in contact with Acas about a recent workplace dispute will be invited to take part in research by completing an online survey or taking part in a follow-up interview. This includes employers, employees, and their representatives, whether they used conciliation or not.

The research aims to understand:

  • People's experiences of workplace disputes and using Acas services.
  • The reasons people decide to take part in, or decline Individual Conciliation.
  • What factors influence whether disputes are resolved.
  • How satisfied people are with the service they received from Acas.
  • What impact Individual Conciliation has on employment disputes and outcomes.
  • How Acas could improve Individual Conciliation services in the future.

Your participation is:

  • Voluntary – you don’t have to take part if you don’t want.
  • Confidential – your identity will not be linked to your answers. Your answers will be combined with other people’s and not shared individually with Acas.
  • Not linked to your dealings with Acas and will not affect any further dealings with them.
  • For research purposes only.

Who is carrying out the research?

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) is carrying out this research in partnership with Frontier Economics on behalf of Acas. NatCen and Frontier Economics are independent research organisations which operate separately from Acas.

NatCen is Britain’s largest independent social research agency with over 50 years of experience working with charities and government to understand public views on important issues.

Frontier Economics is one of the largest economic consultancies in Europe specialising in market analysis, impact evaluations, cost-benefit and value for money assessments.

What are the benefits of taking part?

Your feedback will help Acas better understand the experiences of individuals involved in workplace disputes and customers of Acas services. This will help to shape future delivery of the service and ensure support meets the needs of those experiencing workplace disputes.

What does taking part involve?

Taking part in the research will involve completing a short online survey. People who take part in the first survey and agree to be recontacted will be asked to take part in a follow-up survey. Some people will also be invited to take part in a follow up interview with one of NatCen’s researchers to understand their experiences of their dispute and their contact with Acas in more depth.

In the survey we will ask about:

  • Your employment situation and some background information on the dispute.
  • Your experience with Acas Individual Conciliation and whether your dispute was resolved.
  • Your satisfaction with the service offered by Acas.

Please note:

  • Taking part will not affect your dispute or any dealings with Acas.
  • Acas will not know whether you have taken part.

You may receive a phone call from us to check whether you were able to access the survey and to answer any questions you may have. The telephone number will begin with 01277.

Why have I been selected to take part?

We are contacting you because Acas records show that you have recently been in contact with Acas. We are speaking to people who used the Acas conciliation service and those who did not, to understand different experiences and perspectives. This includes employees, employers, and representatives.

Your information has been provided for research purposes only. They will be kept confidential between NatCen, Frontier Economics and the Acas research team and won’t be passed onto anyone else in a way that could identify you.

Do I have to take part?

You don’t have to take part if you don’t want to. You can contact NatCen either by phone on 0800 783 5890 or by email at AcasICSurvey@natcen.ac.uk if you would prefer not to be contacted about this research again.

Will taking part affect my claim or dealings with Acas?

Your decision to take part will not affect your dealings with Acas, either now or at any time in the future.

Is the study confidential?

Yes, all information provided will be treated in strict confidence under GDPR (2018).

  • The information you provide will only be used for research purposes and will not be used for marketing or any other purposes.
  • Responses to the survey will be anonymised; Acas cannot identify individuals.
  • Acas will have the role of data controller for the survey data and NatCen will be the data processor.
  • NatCen processes data under its public task as the lawful basis.
  • NatCen will securely delete your personal data from its systems once the study has been completed at the end of 2027.

For more information on how your data will be used, visit the privacy notice.

Do I have to complete the survey in one go?

No. The survey should only take up to 20 minutes to complete. You can take breaks and complete the survey at your own pace.

  • If you’re completing the survey online and want to stop at any point, the survey will be saved automatically. Once you’re ready to continue, enter the same link you used to access the survey, then enter the same access code and you will be able to continue.

What happens if the survey times out?

To protect the confidentiality of your answers, the questionnaire will close if left for an extended period of inactivity. Your answers will have been saved so you can log back in by using the link in the email.

I have completed the questionnaire, but you contacted me again to remind me

Thank you for taking part! It might be that you completed the questionnaire after we had checked our records. We apologise, but we will have safely received your answers.

Contact us

If you have any questions, please contact us on AcasICSurvey@natcen.ac.uk or call us free on 0800 783 5890. If you wish to contact Acas about this study, email research@acas.org.uk. 

You can also find more information about the study from Acas’s website here: acas.org.uk/acas-individual-conciliation-evaluation.

Further Support

If you've been affected by issues raised in the survey, here are some helplines. Click here for the support page.

Privacy notice

To read more about why and how the personal data (also called personal information) you provide is being used, visit the privacy notice.