Guide · Discrimination & Dispute Resolution
Discrimination, ACAS conciliation and tribunal claims, explained
If you have been treated unfairly because of who you are, or you are heading toward an Employment Tribunal, the process can feel opaque and intimidating. This guide explains the Equality Act 2010, the mandatory ACAS Early Conciliation step, and how tribunal claims are prepared, and how Zhan Associates supports you through each stage.
Workplace disputes in England and Wales follow a defined route. Where the problem involves discrimination, the governing law is the Equality Act 2010. Where a dispute is heading to a tribunal, you must first go through ACAS Early Conciliation, and only then can a claim be started on an ET1 form. Each step has its own rules and its own deadlines, and mistakes at any stage can be costly.
Zhan Associates is a specialist workplace defence consultancy. We are not a firm of solicitors and we do not provide reserved legal activities or legal advice. We provide forensic preparation, negotiation strategy, and tribunal document drafting, alongside representation at internal hearings. The sections below explain the three areas people search for most.
Discrimination
The Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 is the single statute that protects you from discrimination at work. It brings together age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation, known as the protected characteristics. Discrimination linked to any of these can be unlawful.
The Act recognises several forms of discrimination. Direct discrimination is being treated worse because of a protected characteristic. Indirect discrimination is where a policy that applies to everyone puts people who share a characteristic at a particular disadvantage. It also covers harassment, victimisation for raising a complaint, and, for disabled employees, the important duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments. Disability discrimination and reasonable adjustments are among the most searched issues in this area, because employers so often fail to make changes that the law requires.
Discrimination can occur on its own, or alongside a disciplinary process or dismissal, which is where it most often affects the clients we act for. A dismissal that is bound up with a protected characteristic raises the stakes considerably, both in how the case is argued and in the remedy available.
How Zhan Associates helps with Equality Act issues
Where a disciplinary or dismissal has an equality dimension, we build that into your defence from the outset, identifying where a protected characteristic has shaped the employer's treatment of you and where reasonable adjustments were owed and not made. Where the matter proceeds to a tribunal, we draft the claim so each ground is pleaded properly.
- Equality-aware defence. Our Complex Case / Equality Act Overlay adds discrimination analysis to your hearing defence.
- Discrimination claims drafted properly. A Complex Multi-Claim ET1 pleads discrimination, whistleblowing and dismissal grounds each with its own chronology and causation.
Dispute Resolution
ACAS and Early Conciliation
ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, sits at the centre of the tribunal process in England and Wales. Before you can lodge almost any Employment Tribunal claim, you must first notify ACAS and go through Early Conciliation. This is a mandatory step, not an optional one, and it is heavily searched precisely because so many people do not know it comes first.
Early Conciliation gives both sides a free, confidential opportunity to resolve the dispute without a hearing. An ACAS conciliator acts as a neutral go-between. If the matter settles, that is usually the end of it. If it does not, ACAS issues an Early Conciliation certificate, and the unique reference number on that certificate must appear on your ET1 or the tribunal will reject the claim. Importantly, starting Early Conciliation pauses the tribunal time limit clock, which can give you valuable extra time, but the underlying deadlines remain unforgiving and are easy to miscalculate.
How Zhan Associates helps with ACAS Early Conciliation
Conciliation is a negotiation, and negotiations are won by the side that is prepared. We benchmark a realistic settlement range, prepare your position statement, and manage the process so the conversation is conducted from a position of strength rather than hope, while keeping a close eye on how it affects your tribunal time limits.
- Conciliation, handled properly. Our ACAS Negotiation / Early Conciliation service prepares and manages the process for you.
- Leverage first. A Negotiation Strategy converts the procedural weaknesses in your case into a negotiating position.
Dispute Resolution
ET1 preparation
The ET1 is the form that starts an Employment Tribunal claim. It is far more than an administrative document. It sets out who you are claiming against, what you are claiming, and the facts you rely on, and it frames the whole case that follows. A claim that is poorly drafted, missing a ground, or filed out of time can fail before it is ever heard, regardless of how strong the underlying facts are.
Time limits are the great trap. Most claims must be started within six months of the act complained of where that act falls on or after 1 October 2026, and within three months less one day where it falls before that, adjusted in each case for the Early Conciliation period. The particulars of claim must plead each cause of action clearly, and where more than one claim is involved, such as unfair dismissal alongside discrimination and whistleblowing, each needs its own factual chronology and its own analysis of causation. This is skilled drafting, and it is where many self-submitted claims come unstuck.
How Zhan Associates helps with ET1 preparation
We draft ET1 claims at three levels, so the fee matches the complexity of your case. We verify your deadlines first, structure the claim so it is submission-ready, and integrate your ACAS certificate. You are told the fixed fee before any work begins.
- Straightforward claims. Basic ET1 Drafting for a single, clearly defined claim.
- Detailed claims. Standard ET1 + Particulars with a full factual narrative and reviewed schedule of loss.
- Multi-claim cases. Complex Multi-Claim ET1 where discrimination, whistleblowing or constructive dismissal grounds combine.
Common questions
Discrimination and tribunal questions people ask
The Equality Act 2010 protects against discrimination linked to nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. It covers direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees.
Where a disabled employee is put at a substantial disadvantage by a workplace practice, physical feature, or lack of an aid, the employer has a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove that disadvantage. Failure to make them is one of the most common and most searched forms of disability discrimination.
Yes. Early Conciliation through ACAS is a mandatory step before almost any Employment Tribunal claim can be started. ACAS issues a certificate with a unique reference number, and that number must appear on your ET1 or the claim will be rejected.
Yes. Notifying ACAS pauses the tribunal time limit clock, which can give you extra time. However, the underlying deadlines remain strict and the calculation is easy to get wrong, so it is worth having the dates checked carefully.
The ET1 is the form that starts an Employment Tribunal claim. It sets out who you are claiming against, what you are claiming, and the facts you rely on. A claim that is out of time, missing a ground, or poorly pleaded can fail before it is heard, which is why careful drafting matters, especially where several claims combine.
Yes. Our Complex Multi-Claim ET1 service is built for claims that combine grounds such as discrimination, whistleblowing and constructive dismissal, pleading each separately with its own factual chronology and causation analysis. The scope and fixed fee are agreed with you after an initial review.
Discrimination affects the Vento head on one tool and the leverage factors on the other: work out the tribunal figure, or work out a settlement range.
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