Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to guarantee successful resolution of workplace conflict through mediation or any other conflict management tool. Anna Shields, director at Consensio , sets out some realistic expectations for mediation users an  More...
13 May 2013 14:09

Employees, employers and the Government are increasingly looking to resolve workplace disputes early, avoiding the need for formal or legal processes. Mediation is proven to save time, money and stress, but the implementation of a fully integrated workp  More...
18 February 2013 12:22

The Government has launched a consultation on the early conciliation process, which will require prospective employment tribunal claimants to submit information about their claim to Acas before lodging a claim. The mandatory use of early conciliati  More...
18 January 2013 09:51

Government sets out timetable for employment law changes Friday 15 March 2013 14:42 The Government has set out a number of forthcoming legal amendments due to take place as a result of its employment law review, which set out to an  More...
02 January 2013 05:57

The Government's "employer's charter" seeks to reform the way that employers handle workplace disputes and to reduce the number of tribunals. Tania Coke, senior mediation consultant at workplace mediation specialists  Consensio , considers  More...
11 May 2012 12:32

Mediation is a key part of the Government's plans for employment law reform. It hopes that by referring all employment disputes to mediation it will reduce the number of tribunals that take place. However, it needn't look far to see a success  More...
29 March 2012 11:46

The Government today announced the latest step in its attempts to reform the employment tribunal system - a pilot scheme for two regional mediation networks for small businesses. The pilot networks will be located in Cambridge and Manchester, where   More...
23 January 2012 16:42

I am in the middle of an employment tribunal dispute with an employee who has claimed that a decision not to promote him was discriminatory, but has not resigned. His solicitors have suggested mediation - is that a good idea or will it be just more lega  More...
15 September 2011 11:24

Half the organisations surveyed in XpertHR's conflict management survey that have altered their conflict management approach in the last two years have introduced or made changes to their mediation procedures. The survey also found that mor  More...
23 May 2011 00:00

Personnel Today has announced the introduction of a new category in the Personnel Today Awards 2011 - innovation in dispute resolution. The inclusion of the new category reflects the growing importance of dispute resolution as an HR issue and follows  More...
10 May 2011 15:45

Acas has welcomed the Government's proposal for potential employment tribunal claims to be referred for early conciliation, in its formal submission to the public consultation on  resolving workforce disputes . The Acas Council said that  More...
30 March 2011 14:07

No employer wants to go through a discipline and grievance process - they are time-consuming, potentially costly and can damage employee relations and reputation as well as the bank balance. However, many employers find themselves having to deal with th  More...
02 March 2011 16:49

HR news and analysis including: The Court of Appeal decides that BA was not in breach of contract by reducing crew on flights. Dr John Philpott, CIPD chief economist, discusses recent unemployment forecasts. CIPD conference delegates' views  More...
12 November 2010 09:57

The majority of UK employees do not believe that HR departments are best placed to manage conflict in the workplace, according to new research. In a Global Market Insite poll of 1,000 UK workers, commissioned by the Centre for Effective Dispute Reso  More...
09 November 2010 11:03

EXCLUSIVE Employment lawyers have expressed concern at ambiguities in the Equality Act, which came in to force this month, that could have far-reaching implications for the use of compromise agreements between employers and employees. Section  More...
29 October 2010 15:27

Consultant editor Darren Newman explains why the drafting of the provision in the Equality Act 2010 on compromise agreements could effectively mean that no compromise agreement under the Act is enforceable. It is becoming increasingly clear that a s  More...
29 October 2010 00:00

One-third of employers said that their use of compromise agreements had increased over the past few years, while 16% said it had decreased. This is according to a survey by XpertHR, which found that 80% of companies use compromise agreements to   More...
18 October 2010 09:35

Unite union has offered to postpone its British Airways (BA) cabin crew strike ballot to allow the staff time to consider the airline's latest offer. Unite was due to begin balloting cabin crew tomorrow unless an agreement was reached in the dispute  More...
28 June 2010 08:02

More than 5,000 employment tribunals are said to have been avoided after the launch of Acas' pre-claim conciliation service, the arbitration body has claimed. Acas helpline advisers have referred some 8.034 cases to the pre-claim service since its l  More...
17 March 2010 15:40

A long-running dispute about changes to firefighters' shifts will be referred to an advisory panel, it has emerged. South Yorkshire fire authority and the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) have agreed to union calls to use in-house mediators after both sides  More...
28 January 2010 09:17