Firms must have dispute resolution mechanism

Serious disciplinary issues should be handled by top management or the employer. This is because big disputes expose the firm to more risks.

An appeal mechanism should be available to the aggrieved employee. There should be an avenue for channelling grievances to more senior staff. The goal of such a grievance procedure is to ensure that there is a win-win for all parties and that no one loses out.

The grievance procedure also helps the firm prevent disputes. Workplace disputes can get out of control if not well handled. They can lead to labour unrest in and paralyse an entire industry.

They can also lead to costly litigation and tarnish a business’ image. A few years ago employees of a leading financial institution took the employer to court and got restraining orders against a proposed merger with another firm.

The action by the employees, following an unresolved dispute, not only delayed the merger process but also cost the firm a lot of money.

During a merger and acquisition it is inevitable that some staff members will have to be declared redundant. Adequate preparation of staff for such eventualities and properly handling of the whole process reduces exposure to litigation.

Dispute resolution should re-enforce trust between concerned parties. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is worthy embracing when deciding which dispute resolution method your business should adopt.

ADR involves using mediation or arbitration. Mediation is more informal and usually aims at creating a win-win solution for both parties. It is usually better to involve a third party who has no bias or conflict of interest when deciding the dispute. Arbitration is more formal and usually the dispute resolver is a qualified arbitrator and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

They are trained to handle disputes in terms of legalities, procedure and are sometimes more experienced than court personnel. However, arbitration is quite expensive and should be resorted to when a dispute is very large.

The adversarial court process is not the most ideal to solve work conflicts unless taken as a last resort.

For example, where there are claims for unlawful dismissal or theft the governing law would primarily be the Employment Act. It is therefore important when resolving an employment dispute through the court process to ensure adherence to the Employment Act as much as possible.

This is because lack of adherence can expose your business to legal risk. If you issue warning or dismissal letters to staff ensure that adherence to the Act. Avoid harassing and intimidating staff members for that can expose you to litigation.

A mix of adversarial and non-adversarial dispute resolution mechanisms is necessary in some extreme cases.

Mputhia is a partner with Muthoga Gaturu Advocates. [email protected]. www.mgadvocates.com.