The Workplace Mediation People

It is not often that people blog about their business failures, but today’s post is all about a proposal for a workplace mediation that we made which was not accepted, primarily on grounds of cost. The reason we are blogging about it is because, somewhat unusually, we were made aware of the eventual outcome of the situation we were proposing to mediate and we believe it serves as a salutary lesson to those who think that mediation is not worth the cost.

We spend a lot of time talking to prospective clients about the cost of mediation and how spending money on mediation will usually lead to very substantial savings. Continue reading “A Salutary Lesson?”

Following the Supreme Court decision last week that the Government’s Employment Tribunal fees scheme was unlawful and had to be scrapped, companies like Peninsula are predicting (perhaps somewhat hysterically and perhaps because it is in their interests to do so) that the dam is about to burst and that there is about to be a surge of new Employment Tribunal claims. Although few people expect the number of claims to climb straight back up to previous levels and although the Government may yet seek to introduce a revised fees regime that is less objectionable, there is almost certainly going to be an increase in claims. Continue reading “Don’t Give A Dam…”

Antony Sendall has been asked to join the HIVE panel to debate Austerity in the Workplace at their 2017 Annual Soiree on Thursday 21 September 4.30pm to 7pm. HIVE is the Society for Workplace and Employment Mediation. It is likely to give rise to some lively discussion, so why not come along to join in?

Antony has already been amused by the fact that the poster for an event to discuss ‘austerity’ in the workplace has a glass of prosecco as its principal motif. Is the point that pre-2008 it would have been champagne?

You can get your tickets by clicking here

A hugely important Supreme Court decision this morning has resulted in the scrapping of the current Employment Tribunal fees scheme. The Fees Order has been found to be unlawful under both domestic and EU law because it has the effect of preventing access to justice. Since it had that effect as soon as it was made, it was therefore unlawful and has been quashed. Continue reading “Employment Tribunals Fees Scheme struck down and scrapped by Supreme Court”

In recent years there seems (anecdotally, at least) to have been a marked increase in litigation involving employees with mental health issues. Litigation can be especially challenging for people with those types of issues. Therefore, one might have expected there to have been a rapid growth in alternative forms of resolution for such cases, particularly workplace mediation. However, we have noticed that many mediation organisations suggest that workplace mediation is actually inappropriate when the employee is suffering from mental health issues. We find this approach both disappointing and completely counter intuitive. Continue reading “Mind the Mental Health Gap”

Mediators tend to be very positive, energetic future-focussed types who like nothing better than getting the parties to concentrate on collaborating to find ways to resolve current problems and to create improved and more effective ways of working. Often, the key is creating an expectation of success. However, I am reminded by the short but thought-provoking article by Thornton Mason that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

In his article, Thornton Mason discusses Continue reading “What Does Failure Look Like?”

An interesting article in HR Review commenting on the results of a survey that reveals that businesses are overlooking the impact of the office environment on productivity and morale. According to the survey, although over 90% of workers believe the office environment affects their productivity, fewer than 50% consider that their office environment improves their productivity and 20% believe it actually decreases their productivity.

There are many elements that need to combine to produce a healthy and productive working environment, one of which is ensuring that issues are resolved quickly and effectively and that there are good working relationships between employees. Establishing effective processes such as mediation can make an enormous impact on the working environment and can really help to improve morale and productivity. It can also lead to many other benefits such as enhanced staff retention and even to less obvious benefits such as improved relationships with customers and suppliers and even to increased innovation.