Annual Report 2009 - 2010 (colour version) - Acas

92 Pages·2010·6.32 MB·English

ANNUAL
REPORT
AND
ACCOUNTS
2009/2010
Advisory,
Conciliation
and Arbitration
Service (Acas)
HC205
�

Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration
Service (Acas) Annual Report and
Accounts 2009/10
Report on the activities of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
(Acas) and Accounts for the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.
Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 253(1) of the Trade Union
and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 26 July 2010.
HC205 London: The Stationery Office £15.50
Acas Annual Report & Accounts | 09/10 3
© Crown Copyright 2010
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ISBN: 9780102968026
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on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office
ID: 2377549 07/10
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Contents
Who we are and what we do 06
Foreword from the Chair 07
Chief Executive’s Statement 08
The Acas Council 10
Operational and management structure 11
• Regional presence 11
What are our priorities and how are we doing 12
• Enhancing awareness and take-up of dispute resolution
and conflict management in the workplace 14
• Providing information, practical advice and guidance
to employers and employees 19
• Reaching new audiences 26
• Raising awareness and influencing policy 30
• Making the most of our people and resources 36
Our work in facts and figures 38
• Performance against key indicators 40
• Individual disputes 43
• Collective disputes 48
• Advisory services 51
What we spend and how we spend it 59
• Acas Resource Accounts 2009/10 60
Acas Annual Report & Accounts | 09/10 5
WHO
WE ARE
AND
WHAT
WE DO
Who we are What we do
Acas is the independent employment We help business leaders, HR
relations service. We offer impartial professionals, managers, employees
expertise to businesses and their and their representatives make the
employees – to help them develop right choices when it comes to good
employee engagement and employment practice. We do this by
productive working environments. offering a range of services, some
Our reputation for impartiality and preventative, others restorative, to
trustworthiness is second to none. enable employers and employees
to solve their problems and improve
business performance.
6
WHO Foreword from the Chair
�
Acas launched its pre-claim
conciliation scheme nationally
in April 2009 following a successful
pilot. The scheme, which attempts
to broker early conciliation in
employment tribunal claims, has
WE ARE
proved very popular with clients.
Nevertheless, the past year has
seen a significant increase in
tribunal cases and this has put a
strain on our resources. We have
managed to cope, however, and
even sustained the level of potential
hearing days saved.
AND
It is not always possible to nip
disputes in the bud. However,
Acas can help to broker deals
in even the most intractable of
industrial disputes. For example,
the settlement we helped achieve
at Royal Mail is set to transform
WHAT
the company for the benefit of its
management, employees and,
most important of all, its customers.
The past year has been one
We are very conscious of the current
of considerable economic
pressures on the public purse and
uncertainty. Although the recession is are constantly looking to carry out
our functions more economically
WE DO now officially over, the recovery has and efficiently. During the past
year we have been the subject of
been, and remains, fragile.
a rigorous Public Value Review,
which found that we were delivering
good results and providing value for
money to the taxpayer. However,
As the country begins to Concern about employment issues
the review identified a number of
emerge from its longest and and, in particular, redundancies has
efficiency savings that could be
deepest recession for more remained high. This was reflected
made and we will be considering
than 60 years businesses in the number of calls to the Acas
how best to achieve these in the
have been looking for support helpline, which exceeded one
coming months.
and guidance. million for the first time.
Finally, I believe that Acas’ range
Acas has helped thousands of Our helpline offers timely advice
of dispute resolution and business
businesses over the past year. to urgent enquires, but it also has
support services will be more vital
We have provided advice in the a longer-term impact. According
than ever as the country looks to
employment relations field, from to a recent survey, more than half
pull out of the recession and meet
short practical courses on issues of employers said that their call to
the challenges of the modern
such as improving attendance our helpline had prompted them
global economy.
and managing change, through to update or improve employment

to in-depth tailored support. policies. And 86%, who had
decided against making a claim to
an employment tribunal following
their call, credited the helpline with
helping to change their mind.
Acas Annual Report & Accounts | 09/10 7
Chief Executive’s statement
�
This has been a very tough year for British business
and we have seen demand for our services, especially
around dealing with redundancy, increase greatly.
As well as continuing to provide conciliation in individual
and collective disputes, we have also looked at our
other services and the value for money we provide
and have identified new ways of improving the British
workplace through effective employment relations.
We have done this in three We also extended our helpline
94% main ways. We have introduced opening hours – 8am to 8pm from
new services to help resolve Monday to Friday, 9am to 1pm on
problems at work more Saturday to meet demand from
quickly – such as the pre-claim employees and employers for
of collective disputes conciliation service launched in advice. The helpline is a critical point
April 2009. We have continued of referral from callers to our new
were resolved or were
to give practical advice to PCC service and all our advisers
helped move towards help employers with legal received call-handling training with
changes, like the introduction a particular focus on early dispute
a resolution
of the ‘Statement of Fitness resolution. This year we have also
for Work’. Finally, we have successfully implemented a new
contributed significantly to telephony system that offers our
wider employment initiatives callers a better experience when
1m
and debate, for example on they call our national helpline.
employee engagement.
In the past year we have also
Good relationships between streamlined processes for
Calls to the Acas
employers and employees are more developing products and services
helpline – marking critical than ever, as is the need to and further developed the role
save the time and money associated of our Customer Services Team
a real milestone
with conflict and tribunal hearings. who were in their first full year of
for this service Acas’ pre-claim conciliation service operation. We have also improved
(PCC) is testimony to our strongly the style of course materials
held belief that although prevention is and enhanced our marketing
better than cure, early prevention is effectiveness, primarily through
98% best of all. PCC gives employers and better use of electronic channels.
employees the chance to resolve their
disputes before a claim is made to an Over 5,000 organisations were
employment tribunal. It is proving a helped by our training during the
of delegates popular service: the number of cases year – organisations can opt to
we handled doubled in the second send delegates to training courses
were satisfied or
half of the year and tribunal claims run by Acas or we can tailor
very satisfied with their have been avoided in more than courses especially for them and
two thirds of cases. deliver them in their workplace.
Acas training course
8
Explaining how legislation
translates into practice for It is important that we monitor how
employers and employees has
well our services are doing and our
always been a critical part of our
business. During the year Acas
staff can be very proud of the excellent
has worked with the Department
for Work and Pensions (DWP) and results of a customer satisfaction survey
the Department of Health (DoH)
to produce guidance and training looking at the impact our work had on
for employers that support the
employers in dispute resolution. According
introduction of the new ‘fit note’.
We have also contributed to a
to one survey 95% of respondents were
ministerial-chaired ‘stakeholder
group’, ensuring that the satisfied with the service we provide
importance of line managers
to the success of such initiatives
is recognised. 87,421
It is important that we monitor
how well our services are doing
and our staff can be very proud of
net cases received from employment
the excellent results of a customer
satisfaction survey looking at tribunals for conciliation – an increase
the impact our work had on
of 13% from last year
employers in dispute resolution.
According to a survey of helpline
users, 95% said they would use
it again. Eighty-eight per cent
line management and good policies I am sure will also prove to be
of respondents said that the
and procedures – have been valuable members of our Council.
information provided helped them
integral to our work for many years. The coming year is going to be
decide what to do next and 52%
another challenging one – we will
of employers updated or improved
I have had the pleasure of visiting be expected to do more for less.
policies because of the advice
Acas regional offices during the We will need to carry on providing
they received when they rang. In
year, talking with many of our great services with continued
terms of value for money this is a
staff about the changes we’re pressures on our resources, but
significant figure given the relatively
facing as an organisation and I know that Acas staff are up
low cost of each call.
listening to their concerns and to this challenge.
ideas. It was clear that staff have
As well as working hand in hand
also been talking and listening to
with employers and employees to
our customers more than ever:
resolve very pressing problems at
attempting to anticipate their needs
work we also contribute widely to
and respond more quickly to
thinking on broader public policy
workplace problems.
initiatives. We made a significant
input into the MacLeod review
At the close of the operational
Engaging for success: enhancing
year, three of our Council members
performance through employee
stepped down and I would like
engagement. This allowed
to thank Debbie Coulter, John
us to demonstrate how the
McMullen and Dave Prentis for their
principles underpinning employee
contributions over the past year
engagement – strong, principled
and welcome their replacements
leadership, the chance for
Professor Linda Dickens, Dr Mary
employees to be heard, effective
Bousted and John Hannett who
Acas Annual Report & Accounts | 09/10 9
The Acas Council

1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12
The Acas Council 3. Susan Anderson 7. John McMullen
– providing strategic direction
is CBI’s Director of Public Services is a Partner at Short, Richardson and
We have a Council responsible and Skills. She leads the CBI’s Forth LLP and Professor of Labour
for setting our strategic campaign on public services reform Law at the University of Leeds.
direction, policies and priorities. and its work on education and
It ensures our statutory duties skills issues. She is also a member 8. Jonathan Michie
are carried out effectively. Its of the Low Pay Commission which
Chair and members are leading advises the Government on the is Professor of Innovation and
figures from the world of level of the minimum wage. Knowledge Exchange at the
business, unions and academia. University of Oxford where he is
Appointments to the Council 4. Peter Bennett Director of the Department for
are made by the Department for Continuing Education and President
Business, Innovation and Skills. is Human Resources Director for of Kellogg College.
Network Rail. Prior to that he held
This year the Acas Council senior HR roles at Boots and 9. Dave Prentis
members provided invaluable BOC Gases.
is the General Secretary of Unison.
feedback and input into drafting
and updating the Acas Code of 5. Debbie Coulter
10. Derek Simpson
Practice on time off for trade union
is Deputy General Secretary of
duties and activities.
the GMB Trade Union. She is is Joint Secretary of the trade union

also a member of the Joint Policy Unite. He also holds various roles
1. Ed Sweeney
Commission, the Labour Party’s within the TUC as well as being
has been Acas Chair since National Executive Committee a member of the Labour Party’s
November 2007. Prior to that he was (NEC), and of the NEC’s Women, National Policy Forum.
Deputy General Secretary of Amicus. Race and Equalities Committee.
11. Nicola Templeman
2. Sarah Anderson CBE 6. Jennifer Eady QC
is an Independent financial adviser
is involved in running a number of is one of the leading Employment who has spent nearly 30 years in the
small businesses and is also a Non Law Barristers in the country. financial services industry, including
Executive Director of JobCentre She undertakes advocacy and 16 years as a Senior Executive at
Plus. She was formerly a member advisory work for employers, Nationwide Building Society. Nicola is
of the Small Business Council. employees, trade unions, now focusing on developing her own
employers’ associations, central business as an independent financial
and local government, statutory adviser, and coaching women in
commissions and NGOs. transition in their work/home life.
12. Sarah Veale CBE
is the Head of Equality and
Employment Rights at the TUC.
10