2.Main Content
2005 Acas Mediation
This page contains an outline of this research, and a summary of the key findings. Details of how to find the full report can be found at the bottom of the page.
Title
“The Acas small firms mediation pilot – research to explore parties’ experiences and views on the value of mediation”
What is it about?
Acas established a pilot project in 2003 in London, the Northern Region and the Midlands offering mediation of employment disputes within small firms (those with fewer than fifty employees). Acas also commissioned a researcher to evaluate the participants’ expectations and experiences of mediation and the impact of mediation both on the disputes and on employment relations and business performance. The researcher also explored whether firms would be willing to pay for a mediation service and if so, how much. Over a period of one year 26 mediations were carried out, and the evaluation focused on seventeen mediations carried out in sixteen firms.
The study evaluated two kinds of mediation process offered in the pilot: in facilitative mediation, the mediator takes responsibility for the process, but the parties are responsible for any outcomes. In directive mediation, the mediator will hear both sides and propose ways forward, offering a form of adjudication.
Of the sixteen firms in the study, three were private-sector businesses, four were in the public sector and nine were charities. They ranged in size from around six to around fifty employees, with half having fewer than ten. Nine disputes were between employer and employee, five between supervisor and supervisee and three between employees of equal status.
Of the four directive mediations one was a disagreement over pay and the other three involved employees’ concerns over disciplinary and grievance procedures. The facilitative mediations were mostly about interpersonal relationships, performance and accusations of bullying.
Who did it?
The research was commissioned by Acas and conducted by John Seargeant, an independent researcher. It was completed in 2005, and published on the Acas website in January 2006.
Key findings
The research primarily involved interviews with mediation participants. The researcher conducted 37 in-depth interviews, 19 of which were with employers, and 18 with employees.
Positive findings
- An agreement was reached in eleven of the thirteen facilitative mediations in the study, and in all four directive mediations.
- Mediated agreements were made up of explanations and apologies; changes in behaviour; changes to working practices, procedures and policies; and, less commonly, changes such as the proximity of desks.
- All these agreements produced changes in the disputes immediately, which were partly sustained over the longer-term in all cases. In several cases disputes had begun to recur by the time of the research (3–12 months after the mediation), and employers were anticipating further action using internal procedures.
- The key positive feature of mediation was identified by parties as the external mediator, whose role in enabling parties to set out their case to each other and to find a way to reach agreement was seen as invaluable.
- Other features of mediation identified as contributing to the value of the process included being obliged to spend time with the other party, listening, explaining, negotiating, and also the process of composing the agreement. In constructing an agreement point by point, parties were able to find solutions in small steps rather than all at once.
Negative findings
- Negative experiences were about the length and stress of the meetings, the problems of confronting the other party, and the feeling of some participants that they were not as skilled as the other party at setting out their case and acting in their own interests.
- In some cases parties, especially employees, would have preferred some form of investigation of the dispute, and an imposed solution, rather than a facilitated agreement process.
- Agreement to take part was not always wholeheartedly given in the case of some employees. Some employees felt that refusal to take part would not be in their interests, even though they would have preferred an adjudication of some sort.
Most parties, both employers and employees, expressed a willingness to use mediation in future employment disputes. In exploring whether firms would pay for mediation, the researcher found that few employers would be willing to pay more than around £300, and for this they would expect at least one day of mediation. Most employers, however, also recognised that the actual costs of mediation, including preparation, would be higher and thought that a cost of £300 would have to be subsidised.
Link
Ref 04/05 Acas mediation research
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