Small businesses are being urged to consider mediation as a way of resolving workplace disputes and of avoiding costly employment tribunals.
The advice has come from Acas, the employment relations service, and has been backed up by new research which revealed that most small business owners only see mediation - when an impartial party is brought in to help those in the dispute to resolve their differences - as a last resort.
In a poll of 500 small businesses, just 7 per cent of respondents had used mediation, while 52 per cent said that they believed mediation was only suited to large organisations.
Despite the scepticism, it was clear that small firms recognise the value of mediation, with 72 per cent saying that mediation sounded a good tool for resolving workplace disputes, and 63 per cent saying that a more widespread use of mediation would reduce the number of employment tribunal claims.
Of the businesses that had opted for mediation, 82 per cent reported that it had solved the issues completely or partly. Some 43 per cent had used it for discipline issues, 36 per cent for relationship breakdowns and 31 per cent for bullying and harassment.
Ed Sweeney, the chair of Acas, commented: “Resolving an issue at an early stage instead of clearing up its eventual consequences saves money, time and grief. Mediation and dispute resolution are often associated with bigger businesses, but without in-house Human Resources and legal functions, some small businesses can be vulnerable to minor disputes escalating into something more serious and damaging.”
Further information on mediation is available at http://www.acas.org.uk
Date:17 July 2008
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