Rewriting the Rulebook for Resolving Workplace Disputes

Employment dispute resolution is entering a period of significant change. Legislative reform, evolving workplace expectations and mounting pressure on the tribunal system are converging to create a rare opportunity to rethink how workplace conflict is addressed in the UK.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is already reshaping aspects of employment law, while consultations on revisions to the Acas Code continue. Alongside these developments, a ministerial working group has been established to examine the future of dispute resolution, reflecting growing recognition that the current system is under considerable strain. At the same time, a substantial body of academic research is challenging long-held assumptions about how workplace disputes should be managed and resolved.

Against this backdrop, the Civil Mediation Council’s Workplace & Employment Mediation Working Group (WEG) has been actively engaging with policymakers, academics and practitioners to explore practical solutions that can both reduce pressure on the tribunal system and encourage earlier, more constructive resolution of workplace conflict.

The only way we will achieve meaningful change is by addressing these issues collaboratively across professional disciplines.

One of the most notable contributions to the current debate emerged at the Employment Lawyers Association Conference in May, where findings from Reimagining Employment Disputes and Enforcement, undertaken by Catherine Barnard, Sarah Fraser Butlin and Maayan Menashe, were discussed. Drawing on survey responses from more than 200 practitioners, together with interviews and focus groups, the research advances a number of ambitious proposals for reform.

Central among these is the creation of a new Employment Resolution Service to replace the current Acas conciliation framework. Under the proposal, parties would participate in mandatory telephone conciliation or online mediation before a claim could be issued. The research also advocates a three-track tribunal system, with cases allocated according to value and complexity, and a corresponding costs regime on higher-value claims. A further recommendation seeks to address one of the longstanding frustrations of successful claimants by granting tribunal awards the same status as county court judgments for enforcement purposes.

These proposals arrive at a particularly pertinent moment. Employment tribunals continue to face substantial backlogs, and many anticipate a further increase in claims as recent legislative reforms take effect. While procedural reform alone cannot resolve these challenges, there is growing consensus that a system designed primarily around formal adjudication is struggling to meet contemporary needs.

For some time, the WEG has argued that the conversation should extend beyond tribunal reform and focus more fundamentally on how conflict is managed before positions become entrenched. The case for earlier, informal resolution is compelling. Organisations benefit from reduced legal costs, lower management time expenditure and less disruption to working relationships. Individuals, meanwhile, are often spared the emotional and psychological toll associated with prolonged disputes.

Early workplace mediation can contribute to healthier working environments, improved staff retention and reduced levels of absenteeism and presenteeism.

To support this agenda, members of the WEG are currently undertaking research into the human cost of workplace conflict, while also collaborating with leading academics at the University of Westminster. This work examines the financial and organisational impact of conflict, the effectiveness of line manager training and the evidence demonstrating how informal interventions can prevent disputes from escalating into formal claims.

The emphasis on early intervention is particularly important. As Liz Kendall, CMC Fellow and member of the Workplace & Employment Group, observes:

“What decision-makers are fundamentally failing to appreciate is that workplace mediation is most effective when brought in early. This relies on employers, Occupational Health and Human Resources teams identifying and signposting, at the outset, situations where an employee is showing signs of workplace stress or conflict. The only way we will achieve meaningful change is by addressing these issues collaboratively across professional disciplines. Enlisting the support of the Health and Safety Executive in making recommendations to employers, together with a multidisciplinary triage-style approach to signposting, could significantly increase the use of workplace mediation at an early stage without the need for lengthy legislative reform.”

These comments highlight an issue that is often overlooked in discussions about employment disputes. While much of the current debate focuses on what happens once a claim has been initiated, the greatest opportunity for reform may lie much earlier in the lifecycle of workplace conflict. Effective intervention at the point where concerns first emerge has the potential not only to resolve disputes before they escalate, but also to prevent many disputes from arising in a form that requires formal adjudication at all.

The potential benefits are substantial. Early workplace mediation can contribute to healthier working environments, improved staff retention and reduced levels of absenteeism and presenteeism. It can also lessen the incidence of formal grievances, reduce the costs and management time associated with employment litigation, and improve the overall experience of both employers and employees navigating workplace disputes.

In April, the WEG co-hosted a further stakeholder roundtable, building on discussions first convened in June last year. Participants from across the employment, legal, HR and dispute resolution sectors explored the practical and cultural barriers that continue to inhibit the early use of informal resolution processes. Discussions focused on three interconnected themes: legislative and regulatory reform, revisions to the Acas Code and the wider cultural changes required across organisations and professions.

The objective is not simply to respond to reform proposals, but to help shape them.

Those discussions have now led to the establishment of a dedicated WEG taskforce charged with consolidating stakeholder views and developing recommendations for submission to the ministerial working group. The objective is not simply to respond to reform proposals, but to help shape them.

The CMC and the WEG are particularly supportive of calls to reconsider the language that underpins workplace dispute resolution. Terminology influences behaviour. Processes framed in adversarial terms can reinforce adversarial responses, whereas language that emphasises resolution, dialogue and problem-solving may encourage earlier engagement and more constructive outcomes. Revisions to the Acas Code present an important opportunity to reflect this shift in approach.

What is emerging is not merely a debate about process, but a broader reconsideration of how workplace conflict is understood. 

There are also lessons to be learned from developments elsewhere within the justice system. The CMC played a significant role in the reforms that followed the landmark Churchill decision, which confirmed the courts’ ability to encourage participation in alternative dispute resolution. The experience of the civil justice system demonstrates that structured early resolution mechanisms can improve access to justice while reducing unnecessary litigation. Similar principles may have much to offer the employment tribunal context.

What is emerging is not merely a debate about process, but a broader reconsideration of how workplace conflict is understood. The challenge is no longer simply how to manage increasing numbers of claims, but how to create a system that resolves disputes more effectively, more proportionately and at an earlier stage.

The conditions for meaningful reform are now in place. Whether through legislative change, procedural redesign or cultural transformation, there is growing momentum behind a new approach to workplace dispute resolution. The CMC and the Workplace & Employment Group look forward to continuing their collaboration with policymakers, academics and practitioners as this agenda develops.