Employment and Workplace Mediation

After the employment relationship has ended, a former employee may threaten or bring an Employment Tribunal claim against its former employer.  In some instances, this can follow a long history of grievances, or disciplinary processes, or sickness absence for example,  or a combination of these. Very often, the claims are lengthy and involve allegations against several people within the organisation as well as against the employing company directly. Defending these proceedings can be a distraction, costly, time consuming and inevitably a Tribunal claim takes many months and often years to run its full course.

The potential remedies and outcomes offered under the Tribunal system are limited in scope and very often a disgruntled former employee is seeking something different in reality.  Sometimes, the ability simply to have an opportunity, in a safe environment, to say what has been unsaid or to hear an explanation, or an apology, is all that is necessary to pave the way to resolution by alternative and less costly means.  The adversarial Tribunal system doesn’t afford such a platform and parties can quickly become entrenched and distanced.

Employment Mediation has proven time and time again to be a very effective way of offering this alternative and is statistically likely to lead to successful resolution, more quickly and in a more cost-effective manner. It is particularly effective where an employee is unrepresented in the Tribunal proceedings and may have unrealistic or misguided expectations and beliefs about what can be achieved. Creative solutions, vast in scope and well beyond anything that can be achieved through a Tribunal process, are all potentially possible with mediation. Even though compromise is always likely to be needed on the part of both parties, mediation usually offers an employer more say and ultimately better control over outcomes.

The process for mediation of an employment dispute is similar to that set out below for a workplace dispute. Parties are more likely to be represented and agreed outcomes are likely to be different where there is no ongoing employment relationship.