Alternative Dispute Resolution Acas

Question: Evaluate the purpose of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and, with particular reference to the services provided by Acas, assess to what extent it is a successful means of resolving disputes outside the formal judicial process. Answer: ADR or alternative dispute resolution has been well established in the form of the provisions related individual consultation by Acas. It is required that consideration should be offered whenever a claim is made by an individual before the Employment Tribunal. It enjoys a high rate of success which is reflected by the aid of settlements and the number of cases where applications are drawn by the individual (Kelliher and Anderson, 2010). Generally, in case of ADR, the well-known processes of resolving conflict in case of collective labor disputes are used like consolation, mediation and arbitration however it also applies to the complaints made by individual workers (Dix, Forth and Sisson, 2009). In this way, ADR provides an alternative to litigation with the help of the courts are at the same time, it can also be a consensual approach that has been adopted towards the resolution of individual disputes in workplace. In this regard, it needs to be noted that there are a number of areas of ADR (Harris e al., 2008). However, generally an independent person is involved in resolving the dispute as a third-party. Sometimes, it can be a person from within the employing company of the organization but in most of the cases, a person from outside the company, who is an independent person, is used for this purpose (Moore, Tasiran and Jefferys, 2008). Successive governments have been concerns regarding the significant rise that has taken place in the number of applications before the Employment Tribunals, and as a result the cost to the public exchequer (Kressel, 2006). As a result, efforts have been made by successive governments in the UK to limit or control the process and have an impact on the way, individual conservation is provided by Acas. One such example can be given in the form of the development of individual arbitration scheme by the Acas which provided an affordable alternative to a hearing before the Employment Tribunal. An individual aggrieved worker makes an application before the Employment Tribunal and for this purpose, completes the ET1 form. However, the Acas helpline can also write such a person to use 'pre-claim conciliation'. This service is offered free of cost but Acas has to arrive at the conclusion that the issue is of the nature that may result in an application for offering the services free of charge. On the other hand, Acas charges for the mediation services and generally these charges are paid by the employer. However, it is expected that the organization will use its internal company procedures and a variation can be made in the award by 25% by the Employment Tribunal if the internal procedure has not been used or the Acas code of practice was not complied with. In this way, the individual conciliators of Acas and its helpline also encourage that the internal procedures of the company should be used for resolving disputes. The conciliators that are appointed by Acas are civil servants and they are trained by Acas. On the other hand, the mediators that are used by Acas are the conciliators who have more experience or they are the senior advisers. However the conciliation practices from the private sector hired their own staff and mainly they include the persons who have experience with trade unions and HR practices. In case of large organizations where internal remediation schemes are present, generally the middle level managers are given training to act as mediators, however sometimes, the employee representatives are also given training to act as mediators (Gibbons, 2007). In this way, using the process of consultation before the case is heard by the Employment Tribunal is a well-established practice. Acas plays an important role as it offers this service free of charge. As a result, whenever an attempt was made by the different governments to curtail or reduce the conciliation role of Acas, it is the social partners who are present in Acas Council have vehemently defended Acas. However as is the case with other areas of public service, there are expanded set of constraints and reductions due to which there can be a pressure on delivery standards. Although, generally it is perceived that Acas is only related with high-profile, collective nature disputes but it needs to be noted that much more vital role is played by Acas, which is related with all the aspects of dispute prevention. While generally the term mediation is used to describe third-party intervention, Acas makes a reference between the processes of ADR like consolation, mediation and arbitration and this difference can be understood when it comes to outcomes, people and processes. The strategy that has been adopted by Acas for the purpose of improving the employment relations includes helping the improvising acquiring skills that help them in developing and employing the procedures that can sustain employment relationships even in situations where high conflict is involved (Knight and Latreille, 2000). These days, the number of small farms is increasing in the business world. As a result it is impractical as well as nearly impossible to go for external intervention in case of each and every dispute. However, by introducing ADR at the early stage, a disagreement can be prevented from developing into a deep-rooted conflict due to which the distance between the parties increases immensely. At the same time, Acas also believes that by providing these services at the early stage, a fertile ground can be prepared for providing direct ADR services, particularly in case of the medium and larger business organizations as has been seen at present in case of certain large companies where these organizations have their own mediators. These mediators step in at the early stage of a conflict in order to prevent the escalation of the dispute (MacLeod and Clarke, 2009). Therefore, apart from the short term goals like reducing the number of cases that go for hearing before the Employment Tribunals, the main goal before Acas is to maintain good employment relationships at the workplace in the United Kingdom (Corby, 1999). As a result, Acas play significant emphasis on the promotion and introduction of Acas at the early stage of a dispute that may arise at the workplace. This approach needs to be supported by all the concerned parties. Long standing attempts have been made with a view to improve the quality of employment relations. At the same time, it is also important that the use of ADR should be considered in a wide range of third-party interventions in order to appreciate the true value of ADR. Therefore, in the end, it can be said that a successful role as being played by Acas and it has provided an alternative method of resolving disputes at the workplace and at the same time, it is also help in maintaining sustainable employment relationships. References Corby, S. (1999).Resolving employment rights disputes through mediation: the New Zealand experience, London: Institute of Employment Rights Dix, G., Forth, J. and Sisson, K. (2009) Conflict at work: the changing pattern of disputes, in Brown, W., Bryson, A., Forth, J and Whitfield, K. (eds.) The evolution of the modern workplace, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 176-200 Gibbons, M. (2007) A review of employment dispute resolution in Great Britain, London: DTI. Harris, L., Tuckman, A., Snook, J., Tailby, S., Hutchinson, S., and Winters, J. (2008) Small Firms and Workplace Disputes Resolution, Acas Research Paper 01/08. Kelliher, C., Anderson, D. (2010). Doing more with less? Flexible work practices and the intensification of work. Human Relations, 63(1), 83-106 Knight, K.G. and Latreille, P.L. (2000) 'Discipline, Dismissals and Complaints to Employment Tribunals', British Journal of Industrial Relations, 38:4, 533-555 Kressel, K. (2006). Mediation revisited, in M. Deutsch and P. Coleman, The Handbook of Constructive Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice, San Francisco: Jossey Bass. MacLeod, D and Clarke, N. (2009) Engaging for success: enhancing performance through employee engagement, London: Department of Business, Innovation and Skills Moore, S., Tasiran, A. and Jefferys, S. (2008) The impact of employee representation upon workplace industrial relations outcomes, Employment Relations Research Series - No.87, London: BERR