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".
Question I am a former Sony Electronics employee. I made tv sets. I lost my job when manufacturing of them was sent to Mexico. I received unemployment benefits and then I was supposed to receive TRA benefits. I received a notice that A meeting was scheduled about the benefits on May 15. I called them on May 14th and explained that I had to take a pet to have surgery on that day, and they said no problem as long as I met with a counselor before June 30th. I really though I might get called back to work so I waited as long as I could but decided to call them and had my interview on Jun 24th. I signed some documents and then never heard anything and they have what is called a rapid response system. I called and called my counselor, even emailed him and could never get a response. Finally on July 20th I made contact with someone who checked into my file only to find that this man never submitted anything. Strangely enough, it was then submitted on July 20th, practically one month later. He was angry that I did that on my own but I did not even give them his name, somehow they must have known who it was. Last week I had another interview with him and he said he wrote me a WAIVER which was also bs because yesterday I found this on the Internet:
1 record(s) found.
TAW
number Company Location Petitioners SIC Decision
Date Decision Date of Latest Reconsideration/
Revision/Correction Impact date Expiration date Applied
for
ATAA Certified
for
ATAA
61159 Sony Technology Center Mt. Pleasant, PA Wkrs 3651 4/12/2007 Certified 5/7/2007 3/20/2006 4/12/2009 Yes Yes
It said this didn't expire until 2009 this is the website because it didn't paste properly
Anyway, I received a call from someone today from that dept. and said that I was 2 weeks short of being able to receive tra benefits. How could that be when I was able to collect unemployment. It isn't that I just wanted to collect money, I was going to go to school, had everything, classes etc already picked out that I emailed to my counselor to which I received no response. I am a 55 year old woman and do not have many options open to me. I am crushed, and it doesn't seem right to me. If you have any experience with this sort of thing, please let me know. Thank you, Nicki Ferrari
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 mess you describe here is far too typical. I am not a lawyer and cannot mediate this with you alone but I can respond to your question from my business consulting experience.
Note that this issue may have legal ramifications and you may wish to consult a labor attorney.
It may be useful for you to consider that right and wrong are not always the most useful places to begin in dealing with these sorts of problems. As you may already realize, there is a cost to exacting justice and the costs can be quite high. Remember that your person-hood and your work are not even remotely related and that the most successful people at work are often the least successful with others since they have often become successful on the bodies of those they have slain.
It is always difficult to resolve disputes between an individual and an organization because the organization does not have the investment necessary. Few individuals are willing to "invest" in solving problems on behalf of an organization, nor are they given the authority to speak on their behalf. Hence, please try to not take these issues personally, as they have little or nothing to do with you.
Sadly, I have no experience and cannot advise you how to proceed with this dispute. The rules governing these issues are likely contained in a collective bargaining agreement or employment agreement. Try and obtain copies of the rules governing your options. Typically unions and some larger personnel office have ombudsmen or other mediation resources available for people needing an advocate.
Beyond this, you can try to contact city or state agencies that provide a similar service, or private non-profit workplace advocacy groups.
You must do your best to raise your profile and then you will get more attention. If the company is convinced that: 1) you are not going away; 2) you are going to raise hell and tell everyone; and 3) it will likely cost more money to deal with you than it would to help you; than they will make a business decision and solve your problem.
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
