MEDIATION

SUPPORT

As fully qualified employment solicitors, we are able to provide our customers with a full-mediation package, designed to help support each party throughout the process.

EMPLOYERS
EMPLOYEES

FOR EMPLOYERS

Mediation is a process where an independent facilitator, the mediator, helps reach an agreement between employer and employee, and achieves finality in a confidential and safe environment.

Workplace mediation helps improve workplace relationships and can save employers significant money, not just in avoiding expensive employment tribunals, but also in saving the costs of sick leave and lost productivity, which is often a result of disharmonious workplace environments.

HOW DOES MEDIATION HELP?

Mediation is an effective alternative to resolving disputes, now recognised and encouraged by the courts as a very practical way of dealing with disputes, which is beneficial to your organisation on all levels.

As mediators, we do not make judgments or determine outcomes – we simply ask questions that help to uncover underlying problems, assist both parties to understand the issues and help clarify the options for resolving differences or disputes.

WHY IS MEDIATION IMPORTANT?

The overriding aim of workplace mediation is to restore and maintain the employment relationship wherever possible. This means the focus is on working together to go forward, not determining who was right or wrong in the past.

Many disputes can be mediated if both parties want to find a way forward. It can be used at any stage in a dispute but is most effective before positions become entrenched.

THE BENEFITS OF MEDIATION

  • The decision is being reached by you – rather than a court
  • It is generally much quicker than going to Court and helps you to communicate and co-operate to reach your own agreement
  • You remain in control of the outcome. It’s voluntary, not compulsory
  • It is confidential and flexible
  • You decide what will work in your situation. It can only make progress by being fair to you both
  • Mediation focuses on the future, not the past, and so frees you from lengthy legal proceedings
  • It is significantly more cost-effective than legal proceedings. No one loses and both of you gain once an agreement is reached
  • Mediation allows you to deal with emotions, which are painful to you and move on with your lives
  • Mediation has a far higher compliance with outcomes than in court
  • There is over 95% success rate

There’s inevitably a loss of team morale and productivity whilst the mediation is on-going, and if someone resigns, there’s the cost of recruitment. If a case does end up at a tribunal, there are potentially massive legal bills involved.

Employers can’t be forced to implement mediation, because it has to be a voluntary process, but if an employer unreasonably refuses to instigate mediation when one is requested, a tribunal might well take a rather dim view.

The aim is for it to be right, for the person and for the company.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?

Then speak to us today for a no-cost, no obligation discussion about your needs

GET IN TOUCH

FOR EMPLOYEES

Mediation is a process where an independent facilitator, the mediator, helps you reach agreement and finality with your employer in a confidential, safe environment. Workplace mediation is shown to improve workplace relationships and can help reduce the time that you spend outside of the workplace.

Now recognised and encouraged by the courts, mediations are a very practical way of dealing with disputes which is beneficial to you on all levels. Mediations are delicate subjects, and as such, we do not make judgments or try to force outcomes – we ask questions that help to uncover underlying problems that you may have, assist both parties in identifying issues and clarifying conflict resolution options.

HOW WILL YOU BENEFIT FROM MEDIATION HELP?

If you’re constantly being undermined by your employer, feel shaky with anxious about low-grade sniping by colleagues in the office, or discover that a colleague has been stabbing you in the back, then you’re experiencing a level of workplace conflict that’s likely to result in long-term misery and frustration at best, or an employment tribunal at worst.

In between the two extremes, it’s not uncommon to find one, or all, of the following:

  • Panic attacks or depression
  • Sickness absence
  • Retaliatory action that inflames the situation
  • Performance and training reviews
  • Disciplinary procedures and potentially sacking

A potential solution to prevent these actions is workplace mediation. It’s an approach that’s gaining currency with human resources departments, even though it can initially feel terrifying, particularly for junior members of staff.

For a manager who agrees to go to mediation because of a conflict that’s arisen in his or her department, there can additionally be an uncomfortable feeling of failure at their own inability to find a solution.

The aim is for it to be right, for the person and for the company. It may result in a departure, where a mature decision is made to say ‘I don’t want to stay here any more’. The implications of that can then be worked through.

DO YOU WANT TO FIND OUT MORE?

Then speak to us today for a no-cost, no obligation discussion about your needs

GET IN TOUCH