Employment Advocates can support you to achieve the best possible outcome for your employment relationship problem at mediation.
Mediation creates a safe environment for employers and employees to communicate privately, with the assistance of an independent mediator.
To be successful at mediation, provide your Employment Advocate with an accurate overview of events in chronological order. Remember to keep this brief and only touch on events that are directly relevant to the circumstances. This is more likely to have the most impact.
Attach supporting documentation and a copy of your employment agreement.
Do not exaggerate or misrepresent what happened, otherwise you might be seen as being untrustworthy or unrealistic. It is difficult to recover from this position if this gets exposed in mediation.
Share what impact the employment situation has had on you and your loved ones.
Your Employment Advocate will support you to prepare a professionally presented personal grievance and to structure a persuasive argument.
Keep in mind that the mediator will not make the decision. A settlement at mediation is a voluntary process and the task is to persuade the other side that they should settle.
Eighty percent of all cases settle at mediation. In most cases, both sides give up something to settle.
Hurt and humiliation claims are not taxed and soft benefits such as a Certificate of Service, clearing your employment record, keeping the process confidential, agreeing to a non-disparagement clause and appointing a referee can be valuable.
Follow your Employment Advocate’s instruction during mediation. Do not swear, remain respectful even when provoked and never threaten your employer during mediation.
Take the mediator’s feedback on board. Employment Mediators will provide you with an independent and realistic yardstick of what the case might be worth should you choose to take it to the Employment Authority.
Consider all the risks and all costs at all times. Usually, only strong cases are heard at the Employment Authority because the costs of escalation can be prohibitive.