The Better Way to avoid Employment Tribunals

---

In the year to March 31 2016 , a total of 3,030 cases were brought against businesses for claims relating to a variety of complaints, but all arising out of some kind of conflict in the workplace.
In total, judgments in these 3,030 cases resulted in nearly £1.5 million being paid out to claimants by businesses in Northern Ireland.

No figures in relation to costs were included in the report, but the fact that, in general, each party bears their own costs in Employment Tribunal cases means that the businesses also had to add to the bill their legal costs. What is often forgotten is also the cost of devoting time and resources to defending the claim against the business, to say nothing of the human cost and the stress of attending a tribunal hearing and giving evidence, possibly against current or former colleagues. All in all the prospect of an Employment Tribunal fills most business owners with dread.

And yet there is an alternative - taking a proactive approach to conflict is an option that is easy, accessible, cost-effective and beneficial to employer and employee alike. It means adopting good policies and practices that embed mediation principles in all staff contracts; it means taking a positive and preventive approach by training staff and senior teams in skills that will help them have difficult conversations; it means avoiding the ostrich approach and dealing with issues as they arise instead of when they have been festering for months; it means doing things the better way
At the better way we provide training in the skills that equip businesses to deal with conflict before it gets to the point where an employee resorts to a claim and we also provide mediation services for when a dispute needs the assistance of a neutral outsider.