HOW NEW IS WORKPLACE MEDIATION?
✅ Ask Us: “My boss says she has never heard of workplace mediation until recently. Is this a new thing?” sent in by Gregory Mann, office manager, real estate firm.
An excerpt from “Resolved!” ©️ written by Thornton Mason.
“Mediation is a decades old, well-established way to jump start stalled workplace issues. Federal mediators have a long and successful record of mediating labor disputes. And today, many state and federal agencies promote the use of mediation as their alternative dispute method. Some agencies even mandate mediation before they proceed to a hearing.
For quite some time, collective bargaining agreements and company handbooks have spelled out the steps for associates to take when wishing to file a complaint or a notice of unfair treatment. And mediation has been included as an option.
For those employers who don’t offer mediation it is a clear complement to current policies. Mediation does not undermine or replace current practices since all parties agree to use it.
Mediation has always been confidential over the years. Nothing said or suggested in mediation is binding unless the parties agree to make it so.
The end result of mediation is an agreement about how the participants plan to proceed. The parties then return to their established procedures and close their issue under those guidelines.”
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