Mediation can be a less stressful, less costly and more productive way to resolve a dispute with employees, says Adam Bernstein
As any employer who has been involved in an employment dispute will know, cases that end up before an Employment Tribunal can be costly, time consuming and distracting to resolve. This is a key reason why more employers are looking to mediation as an alternative way of resolving disputes with employees.
Those that prefer to have their day in front of a judge can expect to pay dearly for the privilege. Solicitors can charge from – that’s from – £3,500+VAT and disbursements to handle an unlawful deduction of wages or breach of contract claim, £8,500+VAT and disbursements to deal with an unfair dismissal claim, and between £6,500 and 9,000+VAT and disbursements to defend a discrimination claim. On top of that is management time in pulling together a defence and any awards made in favour of the claimant.
But regrettably some do end up defending their actions in an Employment Tribunal. As searches on the government’s Employment Tribunal decisions website illustrate, there are numerous cases with references to, for example, the coach and bus sector.
The point of mediation
In describing the process, Mali Smith, a legal director and mediator at Wright Hassall, says that it is voluntary, confidential and uses an independent third party to try to reach an agreed resolution. As Smith outlines, mediators themselves are professionally trained individuals, many of whom are lawyers. She says that “mediators do not offer any opinions on the dispute; they are there purely to facilitate a solution by putting a positive interpretation on proceedings to help parties reach an agreement that works for all.” In her view, this is a far more constructive approach than adversarial court proceedings which seeks to find for one side only.
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