AboutTimmy Chou Expertise I am a experienced Mediator and a partner in a management consulting firm. As a mediator I work as a third-party neutral and specialize in partnership/shareholder disputes, management/labor issues, company culture difficulties, and family-owned business problems. I can help describe why alternative dispute resolution may be a good choice for you. As an experienced management consultant I may be able to offer creative ideas to help resolve your organizational and business problems and disputes. "If you say conflict, I say opportunity".
I am a supervisor in a controlled environment that uses a rotation of employees, on a "As needed" basis. I'll use the following as an example; There's a list of 8 people numbered 1-8. Lets say #3 just finished working an eight hour shift and goes home, This would then make #4 the next person to call-in when needed. Now we don't notify the next person, they are next to be called when needed so we don't have to pay them stand-by pay, we just call the next on the list and they have the first right of refusal, so if they do say no. We move to the next person and so on. Well sometimes it's hard to get anybody to come in due to spur of the moment. At a recent meeting the topic of notifying the next person on the list came up and was agreed by all in attendance that they would be willing to sign a consent form declining to be paid stand-by pay.So they can be notified they are next to be called in. I was wondering if this is legal and what should be on this form as to cover ourselves. I hope this situation is clear, if not and time permits please don't hesitate to ask other questions.
Answer Thank you for your question!
Mediators act as neutral third parties to disputes and never "get involved" in judging the merits of conflict, but merely use special techniques to help the parties decide how to negotiate their own settlement.
The case you describe here is a technical legal question. I am not a lawyer and cannot give you an opinion, but my inclination is that the agreement you propose would work. My only recommendation would be to make sure you have a provision that deals with any potential problems. What if the person is skipped by mistake? What if they still don't want to come in despite being notified? Do you then have to notify number 2, and so on? Does this arrangement actually benefit the group?
These are some ideas. Feel free to follow up with additional questions.
For your information, the pros and cons of the types of dispute resolution methods follows.
GOOD LUCK!
Arbitration, Mediation, and Litigation
Arbitration: the referral of a dispute to one or more impartial persons for final and binding determination outside of the judicial system
Benefits of Arbitration:
Confidential, no public record
Limited exchange of documentation, information
Quick, don't have to wait for a court date
Arbitrators have expertise in the subject matter and are trained in conflict resolution
Cheaper than litigation
Preserves business relationships
Negatives of Arbitration
It's a compromise, no 0 winner
Complex arbitration can be costly
If not satisfied, may litigate the arbitration procedure
Poor results with an unskilled arbitrator
Both parties must agree to cooperate in the process
Mediation: the process by which parties submit their dispute to a neutral third party (the mediator) who works with the parties to reach a settlement of their dispute.
Benefits of Mediation:
Neutral mediator can objectively suggest alternatives not considered before
Parties are directly engaged in negotiating the settlement
Can be quicker than litigation
Less costly than litigation
Preserves business relationships
85 of American Arbitration Association cases mediated find successful solutions
Negatives of Mediation
may not reach a binding decision
unskilled mediator
Litigation: using the judicial system to resolve disputes
Benefits of litigation:
a clear winner and loser
uses a prescribed set of procedures
more predictable outcomes
is final
Negatives of Litigation:
waiting for court dates can do more harm
usually more expensive than mediation and arbitration
part of the public record
