Employment Mediation

Employment mediation is a process in which the parties agree to involve a neutral third party in their negotiations with the goal of reaching a settlement. The mediator - usually a lawyer or retired judge – is brought into the case to help both parties examine the strengths and weaknesses of their claim. This neutral evaluation will more often than not lead the parties to a settlement of the claims.

Moreover, since it allows the parties to avoid litigation, employment mediation is still an effective and cost efficient way to resolve employment issues. By resolving the issue without the expenditure of costs required to conduct employment litigation, mediation acts to save both parties money and time. In addition, for employers and employees, mediation allows them to avoid the personal strain of having to deal with the process of preparing for and participating in an employment trial.

Although mediation is designed to be a cooperative process, that is usually not the case. Even in a setting designed to facilitate agreement, employment mediation can be a very adversarial process. Many times, the only way to convince an obstinate party that settlement is the best option is to overwhelm that party with the strength of your claim. Whether it is convincing an employer that your sexual harassment and discrimination claim is so strong that the employer has no chance of successfully defending the employment claim or showing an employee that his claim for employment discrimination or unlawful termination is not going to succeed, there is a need for a strong presentation of the employment claim during the mediation.

Since this is the case, you should consult with a knowledgeable employment attorney who can advise you on the best way to resolve your case and tell you if employment mediation can work for you. The expert employment attorneys at Employment Attorney Services have years of experience in dealing with mediation as a method of employment dispute resolution. Since we regularly work for both employees and employers, we can advise both employers and employees on how to best resolve employment issues through employment mediation.