COT3

COT3 Agreement

Acas is under a statutory duty (s.18 Employment Tribunals Act 1996) to promote a settlement of disputes falling within the jurisdiction of the employment tribunals. The duty of facilitating conciliation as part of the early conciliation procedure has been discussed  In addition, once an ET1 has been submitted to the tribunal, a copy will be sent to Acas and a conciliation officer will be appointed to try to promote a settlement between the parties, where either:

• the claimant and respondent both request it; or

• the conciliation officer considers that, despite there being no such request, the parties have a reasonable prospect of successfully negotiating a settlement.

Negotiating through an Acas conciliation officer is extremely useful in circumstances where your client is the respondent and the claimant is not represented. A settlement reached through Acas is recorded on a COT3 form and signed, but is binding and effective as soon as it is verbally agreed, even if the form is never later signed.