Preparing information Early conciliation: getting an agreement

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It can help to prepare information about your case for early conciliation.

Write a summary of your dispute

Write your dispute as a list of events, keeping it brief.

It's useful to include:

  • dates of important incidents
  • how much money you're owed, if it's about pay
  • how long you've worked for your employer
  • any reasons your employer gave for their action or decision
  • what you've done already to try and resolve the dispute

Here are some examples.

Example 1: not being paid

  • Owed my normal wages
  • Should have been paid on 31 January
  • Owed £300
  • Employer has not given a reason for not paying
  • Tried to resolve it by speaking to line manager
  • Line manager told me to speak to payroll – keep being told to speak to different people but no-one can help me

Example 2: being dismissed

  • Worked for employer for 3 years
  • Got dismissed on 4 June
  • Employer's reason for dismissal was redundancy
  • Feel it was unfair as wasn't given proper consultation and employer has now advertised my job online
  • Appealed my redundancy but it was rejected

Example 3: being discriminated against

  • Feel I've been discriminated against because of my disability
  • Have diabetes
  • Employer would not make reasonable adjustment to let me start work later to allow for low blood sugar in the morning
  • Most recent incident was on 23 May – manager shouted at me for being late in front of colleagues
  • Have raised grievance, waiting for final decision

Get supporting documents

It will help your case to gather supporting documents that relate to your dispute, for example:

  • payslips (if the dispute is about pay)
  • timesheets
  • name and contact details of who we need to speak to at your work
  • the grievance or appeal letter you sent to your employer
  • the email or letter showing the decision or result from your employer
  • any other emails or letters relating to the dispute
  • a log or diary of events (if you've kept one)

Your conciliator will ask for these when they need them.

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Please do not include any personal information, for example email address or phone number. Unfortunately we cannot respond to individual requests for information. If you need help, contact our helpline on 0300 123 1100