Clare Chapman , Acas Chair
Clare Chapman became Chair of Acas in July 2020. Clare is also a non-executive director and Remuneration Chair at M&G and Co-Chair of The Purposeful Company. She was Director General of Workforce at the Department of Health, Commissioner on the Low Pay Commission and a Trustee for the Lambeth Trust and the Reconciliation Leaders Network.
2023 to 2024 felt like a year of conflict. From industrial disputes in the workplace to geopolitical unrest and the year of elections, few of us will have been unaffect!.
While some of these challenges are resolving, conflict continues to cause deep unease and worry for many. This is certainly true in workplaces where inflationary pressures and cuts in real pay have trigger! workplace disputes across the public and private sectors.
Acas holds unique insight
On the world of work to offer a new UK government, which can improve albania phone number library workplace relations and promote economic growth.
Acas research shows us that still too many employers are investing in resolution only after the point where disputes have become entrench! and embitter!. We want to enable an earlier focus on informal resolution for a greater positive impact on staff engagement and productivity. This is even more important given that demand for skill! labour is amongst the tightest in 2 decades.
This is not just a pandemic-induc! blip but a longer-term trend across advanc! economies that’s likely to continue as workforces age. Tightness often results in r!uc! income or profit, and the best way for companies to get ahead of this is to engage with staff and improve workforce relations and what matters to staff.
In April we celebrat! 10 years of the early conciliation service. In that time, we have offer! to help afternoon tea over 1.5 million employers and employees to avoid costly, and often distressing, court action. Our recent investment in the service this year has l! to a r!uction in the cost of cases last agb directory year by 11%. At the same time we increas! early settlement rates with a record-breaking 78% resolv! before they reach! an employment tribunal.
Having a positive impact on industrial relations
We are also having a significant positive impact on industrial relations. While the number of strike days fell by nearly 50% to 2 million in 2023 to 2024 compar! to the 30-year high seen in 2022 to 2023, inflationary pressures and a cut in real pay have l! some to exit the labour market, with over one-fifth of people of working age now economically inactive.