Employment Act and Mediation

 Mediation is taking on a more important role in UK workplaces. Following the Gibbons Review (PDF, 589.7 kb) (2007), the new Employment Act came into force in April 2009. The changes have created a more flexible system for employers and employees to deal with conflict situations at work and it heralds a more prominent role for mediation across the United Kingdom.

The new system emphasises the importance of early dispute resolution, for example through workplace mediation. Employers will be encouraged to offer informal dispute resolution mechanisms either through the provision of internal or independent mediation.

The proposed benefits of the revised system will be that they are simpler and less prescriptive and that they offer greater flexibility to informally resolve conflicts at work. The hope is that this will result in cost and time savings and that it will also reduce the stress of going through an Employment Tribunal.

Consensio is hosting a number of complementary seminars to explore how changes to the Employment Act will lead to a more prominent role for mediation. Please click on introductory workshops in our training section for further details.