Workplace Disputes
Workplace or employment disputes can arise between employee and employer, between employees or between departments. Where there is a relationship in the workplace, there is possibility for dispute.
Bullying and Harassement claims: there is a big increase in the number of bullying and harassment claims. Mediation is ideally placed to help parties resolve these and to help them to rebuild their working relationship.
Some claims arise out of performance reviews and suspicions that allegations of bullying arise only when the performance review shows a need to improve performance.
There has been an increase in intercultural claims for bullying and harassment. Mediation of intercultural claims require special expertise, which we have.
Mediation lends itself to workplace and employment disputes.
- Safe Place
- Provides the parties a safe place to air the issues and their real concerns and feelings and helps to find a way forward.
- Post mediation service
- EMS provides a service after mediation to ease the parties back to a restoration of their relationship and to help with any post mediation difficulties.
- Flexible
- Uncovers pertinent issues which may be ignored through more prescribed litigation parameters.
- Confidential
- All parties are bound to non-disclosure of the process and of the outcome so the others in the workplace will not be told that there is a mediation nor of what happened in it.
- Non-binding until settlement
- Allows all parties to explore avenues for negotiation with more freedom.
- Ongoing relationship
- Creates better opportunity for ongoing working relationship between parties or with parties outside of process.
- Cost-effective
- Requires fewer resources than other legal proceedings.
- Wider opportunity
- Creates a broader platform for settlement.
- Dignity at Work
- Enables parties in the workplace to have their opportunity to speak out.
- Equalises power imbalances
- Thereby enabling each party to speak freely without fear of the consequences.
- Intercultural issues
- Mediation is able to deal with intercultural issues that arise in the workplace and can accomodate differences in culture.
Types of Disputes
- Bullying; harassment; sexual harassment
- Health and safety issues
- Restructuring
- Changes in job description
- Dismissal
- Return to work; illness; absence from work
- Pensions
- Union issues
- HR department issues
- Return to work
- Disability
- Discrimination