Human Resource disputes are COSTLY! Not only in litigation costs, but also in terms of staff time to deal with them, not to mention losses in productivity and morale.
Mediation is appropriate in high level human resource disputes such as:
Sexual harassment complaints
Discrimination claims such as race, gender, age,
religion, sexual orientation, etc.
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) complaints
Wrongful discharge claims
Workers Comp matters
...virtually any human resource dispute that could end up in Court, arbitration, due process, or grievance hearing.
But perhaps the most costly of all disputes in the work place remain interpersonal disputes. Some involve only a few individuals - some involve entire departments! The costs associated with lost work time resulting from endless gripe sessions with co-workers is uncharted, but undoubtedly enormous. In addition, consider the emotional cost to employees and their families when they take these disputes home to their families. The stress caused by continuous, unresolved conflict in the work place has triggered divorce, suicide and worse - the all to familiar murders in the office.
The real tragedy is that MOST of these disputes can be RESOLVED in the time it takes to fully investigate them by traditional means. A trained professional mediator can bring complete resolution in these disputes in a day or less. A properly trained internal HR professional (see Training) can resolve lower-level, interpersonal disputes in a matter of a few hours - saving thousands of dollars in lost productivity or the loss of valuable employees.
Remember, mediation is successful in *75-95% of the cases in which the parties agree to participate.
*Depending on the mediation model employed. (Mediation First's model yields a 95% success rate).