employers and employees
- Advice and Guidance
- Publications
Publications
Acas publications - free to download, use and share
Acas provides free guidance for employers, employees and representatives that can be instantly downloaded. We cover a wide range of employment matters on everything from taking holidays and understanding parental rights to tackling discrimination and handling redundancy situations.
This page contains links to some of our most popular guidance publications. Please feel free to download and to share with your colleagues. Further Acas publications can be found on our A-Z of guidance pages.
We also provide Useful templates for letters, forms and checklists and the Acas Learning OnLine tool as well as updates on the latest employment legislation through the Acas e-newsletter; offer short small firms guides and publish regular Research papers and Policy discussion papers.
The statutory Acas Codes of practice are available to download for free. Alternatively, if you wish to purchase a copy you can do so via the TSO website links at the bottom of the page.
New guidance highlights
Download the new Acas guide 
Sex discrimination: key points for the workplace [472kb] to help prevent sex discrimination at work and also how to handle complaints if they arise.
View new Acas guidance on the National Living Wage which is due to be introduced from April 2016.
Recruitment and induction
- Employing younger workers [378kb].
- Recruiting staff guide [428kb].
- Starting staff: induction guide [356kb].
- Employing younger workers [378kb].
Contracts, terms and conditions
Managing performance and pay
- Advisory booklet - How to manage performance [1Mb].
- Advice leaflet - Managing performance for small firms [428kb].
Absence management
Discipline and grievance
- Discipline and grievances at work: The Acas guide [692kb].
- Acas Code of Practice 1 - Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (2015 version) [167kb].
- Conducting workplace investigations [445kb]
Equality and diversity
- Equality and discrimination: understand the basics [352kb].
- Prevent discrimination: support equality [405kb].
- Discrimination: what to do if it happens [335kb].
- Religion or belief and the workplace - a guide for employers and employees [347kb].
- Age and the workplace: a guide for employers and employees [336kb].
- Disability discrimination: key points for the workplace [601kb].
- Race discrimination: key points for the workplace [384kb].
- Sexual orientation discrimination: key points for the workplace [418kb].
- Sex discrimination: key points for the workplace [472kb].
Health, work and well-being
- Advisory booklet - Health Work and Wellbeing [647kb].
- Promoting positive mental health in the workplace [386kb].
- Advice leaflet - Bullying and harassment at work: a guide for managers and employers [172kb].
- Advice leaflet - Bullying and harassment at work: a guide for employees [215kb].
Managing disputes and conflict
- Advisory booklet - Managing conflict at work [1Mb].
- Mediation: An approach to resolving workplace issues [1Mb].
- Mediation: A guide for trade union representatives [1Mb].
- Conciliation explained [120kb].
- Code of Practice on settlement agreements [1Mb].
Redundancy, restructuring and change management
- Advisory booklet - How to manage change [10Mb].
- Advisory booklet - Handling large-scale (collective) redundancies [521kb].
- Handling TUPE transfers: The Acas guide [679kb].
- TUPE changes 2014 [165kb].
Time off, holidays and flexible working
- Advice leaflet - Holidays and holiday pay [266kb].
- The right to request flexible working: an Acas guide [186kb].
- Code of Practice on handling in a reasonable manner requests to work flexibly [170kb].
- Advisory booklet - Flexible working and work-life balance [347kb].
- Homeworking - a guide for employers and employees [272kb].
- Managing bereavement in the workplace - a good practice guide [184kb].
- Shared Parental Leave: a good practice guide for employers and employees [786kb].
Communications and consultation
Supervisor and line-manager skills
Your feedback is valuable to us
We would love to hear your thoughts about Acas publications and any other areas of guidance you think it would be useful for us to produce. Please contact us via our online feedback form to let us know your thoughts.
