Conciliation
This page has the following information about conciliation:
What it is
When and how it is used
Cost
Outcomes
What it is
Conciliation is much the same as mediation. In conciliation, as in mediation, an independent person (the conciliator) tries to help the people in dispute to resolve their problem. The conciliator should be impartial and should not take sides. The parties in dispute are responsible for deciding how to resolve the dispute, not the conciliator.
In certain types of problem, the most common ADR scheme for resolving disputes is called 'conciliation' rather than 'mediation' even though it is essentially the same process.
All conciliation should have the following elements in common:
- It is voluntary - the parties choose to conciliate or not
- It is private and confidential
- The parties are free to agree to the resolution or not
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When and how it is used
There are three commonly used conciliation schemes which you may come across in the UK. It's easy to get confused, since the way conciliation works is slightly different in each of these three schemes. They are:
- Acas conciliation in employment disputes - the parties do not meet, but the conciliator speaks to the employer and the employee separately, usually over the telephone.
- The Disability Conciliation Service - the parties usually meet face-to-face with a conciliator to discuss how to resolve the problem.
- The Furniture Ombudsman scheme for disputes about furniture, fitted kitchens and bathrooms - the first stage of the procedure is referred to as conciliation, and involves a caseworker contacting both sides to try to resolve the dispute.
There are profiles of all of these schemes on this site - the links are listed on the right of this page.
It is also easy to confuse conciliation in two other ways:
- Conciliation can appear very similar to the negotiation stage of resolving a dispute. But in negotiation, the negotiator usually represents one side in the dispute: in conciliation, the conciliator may well try to resolve the dispute through negotiation, but s/he is independent and impartial, and does not take sides.
- Confusingly, the initial stage of some internal complaints procedures, such as the NHS complaints procedure, is often called 'conciliation'. In such cases, the conciliator will try to negotiate a way to resolve the dispute with both parties. However, the conciliator is not independent but instead represents the organisation involved, either directly or through a member organisation.
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Cost
Conciliation is free to the person complaining.
- In Acas conciliation, the service is paid for by the government, which funds Acas.
- Conciliation of disability discrimination complaints is free to both parties and is paid for by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.
- The Furniture Ombudsman Scheme is funded by FIRA, the trade association of furniture retailers.
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Outcomes
In each conciliation scheme, there is a slightly different approach to how binding the agreement is.
- In Acas conciliation, a signed agreement is binding on both employee and employer.
- In disability conciliation, the agreement is binding on both parties if the service provider and the person complaining sign the conciliation agreement on the day of the conciliation meeting.
- In the Furniture Ombudsman conciliation process, a conciliated agreement is binding on the retailer if the consumer accepts it. If the consumer is not happy, s/he can request an independent inspection and adjudication.
Because conciliation is private, the terms of settlement are not made public unless the parties agree. The sort of outcomes agreed through conciliation are likely to be similar to those in mediation and include:
- an apology
- an explanation
- compensation
- changes in practice and procedure
- agreements for future behaviour or communication
Conciliation agreements can be made into legally binding settlements if both parties agree.
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August 2009
