Acas Codes of Practice set minimum standards of fairness that workplaces should follow. They cover legal requirements and good practice guidance.
Acas Codes are used by employment tribunals when deciding on relevant cases.
When referring to Acas Codes in our guidance, consider whether to use 'must' or 'should' depending on the context.
When to use this pattern
Use this pattern when an employer or worker:
- must follow a law that is covered in an Acas Code of Practice
- should follow the good practice guidance in an Acas Code of Practice
The pattern
There are two patterns:
-
one for legal requirements that must be followed and related good practice that should be followed
-
one for points of good practice that should be followed
Legal requirements and related good practice
[Intro specific to topic] [you / the employer / the employer and worker] must [legal requirement covered in Acas Code]. The [relevant Acas Code of Practice] sets out how this should be done. An employment tribunal will take this into account in any relevant claims.
Good practice only
[Intro specific to topic] [you / the employer / the employer and worker] should [point of good practice covered in an Acas Code in line with the / follow the] [relevant Acas Code of Practice]. An employment tribunal will take this into account in any relevant claims.
Example in content
An employer must handle flexible working requests in a reasonable manner. The Acas Code of Practice on requests for flexible working sets out how this should be done. An employment tribunal will take this into account in any relevant claims.
When handling disciplinaries or grievances, the employer should follow a fair procedure in line with the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. An employment tribunal will take this into account in any relevant claims.
Things to remember
The pattern is worded in this way to cover the following points each time:
- if a relevant Acas Code exists and is not followed, this will be taken into account in an employment tribunal
- an employer can follow their own procedure but it should cover the same points as the relevant Acas Code as a minimum
- employers and workers must follow the law underpinning the Acas Code
You do not need to use this content pattern every time you mention an Acas Code of Practice. Use your own wording if the content pattern is not appropriate or helpful for the user.
Employee or worker
This pattern uses 'worker' as the generic term. If you have used 'with the legal status of employee' before on the page, you may need to amend the wording accordingly.
Other codes of practice
This content pattern is for Acas Codes of Practice. However, other government departments and public bodies also issue statutory codes of practice. For example, the code of practice on dismissal and re-engagement on GOV.UK. These codes have a similar legal effect to Acas Codes, so wording from this content pattern can be used for them.