What Is Alternative Dispute Resolution?

There are many forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The most frequently used, and best-known, are described below.

Mediation

Mediation is a process in which parties to a dispute meet with a professional mediator who helps them resolve their differences. The mediator accomplishes this by assisting the parties to accurately evaluate their positions and possible solutions. The mediator facilitates discussion between the parties, and helps them come to some mutually acceptable solution. While the mediator may point out the strengths and weaknesses in a party's position and provide an independent, educated perspective, any resolution of the controversy is determined by the participants. Each participant maintains control over the outcome and has the right not to agree to any particular resolution of the dispute. As a participant is allowed to have private communications with the mediator, confidentiality is insured and open discussion is encouraged.

The decision to mediate a dispute may, in some cases, be ordered by a court. In others it may be required by a contract between the parties. In still others, the parties may decide that mediation should be attempted before a lawsuit is filed. No matter how the decision to mediate arises, Intercede is ready to assist by offering a full range of services, from providing a qualified mediator to coordinating all aspects of the mediation.

Arbitration

Arbitration is a process in which the parties in conflict request the assistance of an impartial and neutral third party to make a decision for them regarding contested issues. It can be compared to an informal trial. The decision of the arbitrator may be advisory only, or it may be binding depending how the parties have chosen to proceed. The third party neutral, or arbitrator, may be one person or a panel of more than one, depending on what the parties agree in advance. Each side may present evidence to the arbitrator including direct testimony, documents and expert reports. The arbitrator hears each side's presentation, asks questions of the parties, considers all of the evidence, and renders a written decision, usually within 30 days of the hearing.

Recent court decisions allow employers to require arbitration of disputes as a part of employment agreements. Here, arbitration becomes a substitute for employees' right to sue the employer in court for alleged violation of the employees' rights. Intercede provides expert advice on this issue and highly qualified arbitrators who have extensive experience in resolving employment disputes.

Peer Review

Peer Review is a process used in the workplace to resolve employee-employer disputes. A panel composed exclusively of an employee's peers, or of a majority of the employee's peers, acts as a decider of facts and policy after presentation by management and the employee. Peer Review systems are typically made up of 3 employees and 2 managers drawn from a jury pool of trained panelists. Normally the panel hears from each side of a dispute in a confidential hearing, and renders a final and binding decision. Peer Review can, however, be used to offer advisory or non-binding opinions to management. Intercede assists organizations in designing Peer Review systems and in teaching employees and managers how to implement the system.