Memo

Dispute Resolution Process

When we talk about dispute resolution here, we are talking about the resolution of different types of employment relationship problems that parties might experience. The Employment Relations Act defines disputes as arguments over the application of certain terms and conditions within the employment agreement.

Dispute resolution processes under the Employment Relations Act

Under the Act, the parties are encouraged to resolve their differences practically and effectively (often by mediation), rather than argue over legal technicalities.

To this end, the Act separates the process of mediation, where the parties arrive at their own solution, from the process of adjudication, where an independent third person imposes a solution. The Department of Labour, which administers the Act, has mediators who deal with employment relationship problems. The intention is to find a solution quickly, before the parties become entrenched in their attitudes towards one another and the employment relationship is damaged beyond repair.

The Employment Relations Act sets up four tiers to the dispute resolution process:

A diagram of the four tiers to the dispute resolution process.
Text equivalent [D]

The process works like this:

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