The Importance of Mediation - the law is changing from April 30th
Since 2004 when the last statutory dispute resolution procedures were put in place, there has been an increased emphasis on work-based mediation to resolve disputes. Because the 2004 procedures were not as successful as hoped in keeping disputes out of court, they have been abolished as of 6th April and replaced with an ACAS code of practice. This code contains best practice principles and is not binding, but any tribunals will take into account whether the principles have been followed and can, at their discretion, adjust any awards by 25% in either direction if they feel the code has not been reasonably followed by the employer or the employee. This code is currently in draft format so transitional provisions will be put in place to ease the changes in.
Further information about the code and the transitional procedures can be found at www.acas.org.uk which goes into it in much further detail.
Best Practice Principles
Discipline
- Establish the facts of each case
- Inform the employee of the problem
- Hold a meeting with the employee to discuss the problem
- Allow the employee to be accompanied at the meeting
- Decide on appropriate action
- Provide employees an opportunity to appeal
Grievance
- Let the employer know the nature of the grievance
- Hold a meeting with the employee to discuss the grievance
- Allow the employee to be accompanied at the meeting
- Decide on appropriate action
- Allow the employee to take the grievance further if not resolved, i.e. appeal
Mediation
Workplace mediation where a trained, neutral third party helps those in disagreement is becoming increasingly important. Both groups or individuals need to agree to take part, the process is confidential and the mediator is there not to judge but to help people to resolve their issues.
Why mediate?
There are benefits above and beyond compliance to the code of practice. It’s a fast and successful way to resolve an issue, less costly than litigation and often stops any escalation. It can also help to rebuild relationships afterwards and encourage change to workplace practices to prevent the same issues coming up again.
When to use mediation
You can choose to use a mediator at any time during a dispute between any group of individuals, though it is often most effective at the early stages. Once a conflict cannot be resolved by the people concerned then mediation can often be a good solution. Mediation can also be used to rebuild relationships after a formal dispute has been resolved and in issues of harassment, bullying, communication problems and personality clashes.
Mediation in Practice
Mediation can be a very successful way of resolving disagreements or disputes in the workplace often avoiding the need to use formal or legal procedures. While mediation works best if the mediator is brought in at an early stage when conflict has arisen but before the relationship has broken down it can be used at any stage of a dispute as demonstrated by the following feedback received from a recent mediation carried out by one of our consultants.
“I had spent some months liaising with my solicitor, completing numerous Employment Tribunal forms, and dealing with ACAS all without any progress whatsoever. Garry was able to mediate a settlement over a relatively swift period between 2 parties who were poles apart in their view of resolving the issue. At all times during our conversations Garry remained, professional and impartial. I firmly believe that without Garry's intervention that the issue would have ended up in the Employment Tribunal”
More Information
At LJA we have highly trained and experienced mediators who can work with clients to manage conflict. To discuss any aspects of mediation or your requirements further and in total confidence, please contact us at info@ljalearning.co.uk or 01784 497055.