ACAS
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service is the UK’s independent public body for employment relations. ACAS publishes the practical guidance most employers and employees rely on, runs a free helpline, and provides early conciliation before tribunal claims.
What ACAS does for employees: free advice on rights and procedures, published Codes of Practice that have legal weight in tribunal proceedings, early conciliation (a free mediation service that has to be attempted before most tribunal claims), and templates and example documents for resignation letters, grievance letters and similar.
When to use ACAS: early in any employment dispute, before things escalate. The ACAS helpline is the most useful free resource in UK employment relations and should usually be the first call.
Website: www.acas.org.uk. Helpline: 0300 123 1100.
GOV.UK
The official UK government information website. The employment sections of GOV.UK are written and maintained by the Department for Business and Trade, HMRC and other government departments. The content is authoritative, plain-English, and updated when legislation or statutory figures change.
The most useful employment sections:
- Your rights if you’re made redundant — statutory redundancy, consultation, notice.
- Handing in your notice — notice rules and the basics of leaving.
- Holiday entitlement — the statutory minimum and how it’s calculated.
- Calculate your statutory redundancy — the government’s own redundancy calculator.
- Personal tax account — for checking PAYE, tax codes, and PILON treatment.
- Jobseeker’s Allowance — New Style JSA and contributory eligibility.
Employment Tribunals
Employment Tribunals hear claims about employment law in England, Wales and Scotland (Northern Ireland has its own Industrial Tribunal). Common claim types include unfair dismissal, discrimination, unauthorised deductions from wages, breach of contract, and redundancy disputes.
Key points to know:
- Time limits are short. Most claims must be brought within three months less one day of the event (the date of dismissal, the date of the deduction, the date of the last act of discrimination). Tribunal statistics show many claims fail on time-limit grounds.
- ACAS early conciliation is mandatory. You must notify ACAS before bringing most tribunal claims; ACAS then has up to six weeks to facilitate settlement. The clock pauses on the tribunal time limit during this period.
- Tribunal fees were abolished in 2017. There’s no fee to issue a claim or for the hearing itself. Legal representation costs are not normally recoverable, so most claimants either represent themselves, use a union solicitor (if a member), or instruct a solicitor on a contingency basis.
- Unfair dismissal claims require service. Ordinary unfair dismissal claims need two years of continuous service. Automatic unfair dismissal claims (whistleblowing, health and safety, discrimination) have no service requirement.
Information and claim forms: gov.uk/employment-tribunals.
Citizens Advice
Citizens Advice is the UK’s largest independent provider of free advice. Their employment section covers practical situations from start-of-job rights through to tribunal claims. Advice is delivered through local bureaux, the national website, telephone helplines, and email.
When Citizens Advice is the right route: when you need help understanding rights but aren’t yet in a formal dispute; when you need help drafting a grievance or response; when you’re below means-tested benefit thresholds and need help claiming; when you’ve got no other advice channel (no union, can’t afford a solicitor, ACAS guidance hasn’t answered the question).
National website: citizensadvice.org.uk/work. The site has a postcode lookup for local bureaux.
Trade unions
Trade unions provide collective representation for workers in their member sectors. The relationship for individual dispute support varies by union: some have employment-law solicitors on retainer for member claims; others provide experienced lay representatives at grievance and disciplinary hearings; some cover legal costs for tribunal claims at the union’s discretion.
If you’re a union member, the union is usually the right first call for any dispute beyond a minor disagreement. Membership benefits typically include free legal advice on employment matters, representation in formal HR processes, and the union’s collective knowledge of the employer’s standard responses.
If you’re not a union member yet, joining mid-dispute usually doesn’t qualify you for backdated representation. Most unions require a few months of membership before legal benefits kick in. For long-running careers in unionised sectors (NHS, teaching, civil service, manufacturing, transport), union membership is often a sensible default.
The TUC (Trades Union Congress) maintains a directory: tuc.org.uk/joinunion.
Other advisory services
Law Centres
A network of free, not-for-profit legal-advice centres across the UK that provide specialist advice and representation for people who can’t afford a solicitor. Coverage varies geographically; not every area has a Law Centre. Where one exists, employment-law support is often one of their specialisms.
Directory: lawcentres.org.uk.
Employment-law solicitors
For complex situations (high-value settlement agreements, discrimination claims, sustained workplace harassment, very senior exits), a specialist employment solicitor is usually the right route. Fees vary widely. Initial consultations are often free or low-cost; some firms work on a no-win-no-fee basis for tribunal claims; settlement- agreement advice is usually paid for by the employer as part of the agreement.
The Law Society maintains a Find a Solicitor directory: solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk. Filter by “Employment” under areas of practice.
MoneyHelper
The free, government-backed money advice service. Most useful around redundancy for the financial side: budgeting, using a lump sum, debt advice, pension decisions, benefits eligibility.
Website: moneyhelper.org.uk.
StepChange
Free debt advice for individuals. Relevant when redundancy or unemployment is creating debt pressure that needs structuring. Provides Debt Management Plans, Individual Voluntary Arrangements, and other formal solutions.
Website: stepchange.org.
Mental health support
Employment transitions are stressful. If the situation is affecting your mental health, your GP is the first route for NHS support (talking therapies, medication, sick notes where relevant). For immediate distress, the Samaritans offer free, anonymous, 24/7 support on 116 123.
How to choose between them
The decision tree is usually:
- For information, start with ACAS or GOV.UK. Both are free, authoritative and clearly written.
- For an active dispute as a union member, the union first.
- For an active dispute, no union, low value, Citizens Advice or a Law Centre.
- For a high-value or complex situation, an employment-law solicitor. Settlement agreement negotiations specifically require a solicitor by statute (s.203 ERA 1996), and the employer usually pays the standard contribution.
- For a tribunal claim, ACAS early conciliation first (mandatory), then either self- representation, union, no-win-no-fee solicitor, or paid representation depending on means and complexity.