Conciliation and ignorance

This is a good example, for students looking at ADR, of conciliation. The early conciliation scheme is now compulsory for anyone considering an Employment Tribunal claim. However the New Law Journal reports that 10% of major retailers were unaware of the scheme, run by ACAS, and of the fines that can be imposed on employers losing at a tribunal - up to £5,000. The article is also useful for a detailed description of how the scheme works.Another interesting snippet here is that, since increased fees of £250 were introduced 10 months ago, the number of Employment Tribunal claims has fallen 80%. Does this represent a weeding out of spurious claims, or is it evidence of an unfair barrier to justice for the hard-pressed?