Acas early conciliation will double from six to 12 weeks from 1 December 2025 across England, Wales and Scotland. The change is set out in Statutory Instrument 2025/1153 on legislation.gov.uk, signed by Department for Business and Trade minister Kate Dearden on 3 November and laid before Parliament on 4 November.

The amendment is simple but significant: rule 6(1) of the 2014 Early Conciliation Regulations replaces the word “six” with “12”. In practice, employers and workers get up to three months to explore settlement with an Acas conciliator before a tribunal claim is filed. The government’s note says no significant impact is foreseen, but for HR teams the operational clock clearly shifts.

A transitional rule matters for diary management. The 12‑week period only applies where a prospective claimant contacts Acas on or after 1 December 2025, whether by submitting the early conciliation form or by telephoning. Any early conciliation that starts before that date continues under the six‑week maximum.

Early conciliation remains the same process people know: most would‑be claimants must notify Acas before issuing in the Employment Tribunal. A conciliator then engages both sides to test positions, exchange information and, if possible, record a settlement. Exemptions to pre‑claim conciliation do not change here; only the time window does, according to legislation.gov.uk.

For employers, the extra six weeks alters both risk and cost profiles. A longer pre‑claim runway can reduce defensive filings, average legal hours and management distraction if used well. It also lengthens uncertainty if talks drift. Finance directors may want to revisit provisions for potential employment liabilities and decide when to recognise or re‑measure exposures during a prolonged conciliation phase.

HR leads gain time to complete fact‑finding, secure documents and run measured settlement approvals. That means interviewing managers and witnesses while memories are still fresh, aligning HR, Legal and Finance on a negotiation range, and setting internal decision points so offers do not go stale in week nine. Where relationships are ongoing, the extra weeks can support mediation‑style conversations alongside settlement talks.

The change does not rewrite statutory limitation periods, but it does change how long Acas can remain involved before issuing a certificate, which interacts with time limits. Employers should continue to diarise both the original limitation date and the post‑certificate window, and seek legal advice where dates are tight or events straddle the 1 December commencement.

On the people side, a longer window can lower the emotional temperature. Employees get more time to consider remedies beyond cash-such as references, training or phased exits-while employers can offer non‑financial terms that create value without straining payroll. In discrimination and whistleblowing disputes, that space can be decisive for rebuilding trust or achieving clean exits.

Operational readiness is now the near‑term task. Policies that explain early conciliation, template authority limits for settlement, and manager guidance on document preservation should be updated before 1 December. In‑house teams may also want a simple tracker noting the Acas contact date, week‑by‑week milestones and the point at which a certificate is likely if progress stalls.

Finally, a word on expectations. The Department for Business and Trade describes the impact as de minimis, yet smaller employers often feel process changes most acutely. The success of a 12‑week window will rest on engagement quality, not duration. Used actively, it can divert more cases from the tribunal system; left to drift, it simply pushes the dispute to a later filing date. Market Pulse UK will watch for any shift in settlement rates and Acas guidance once the rules take effect.