There are some existing mediation referral programs available to employees through their employer. However, it would, seem that these referral programs have some basic barriers to effective service delivery.

A mediation referral program does little other than provide a list of mediators who agree to reduce their fee by a set percentage (generally 25%) and provide a free 30 minute phone consultation.  This presents some issues impacting the effectiveness of the employee mediation benefit:

• The fees of the program mediators may vary widely. This limits the value of a 25% discount:  mediator rates under the plan may still vary by hundreds of dollars an hour, even with the program discount.
• Employees still have to determine which mediator is the best fit for their dispute.  The employees must still “shop around” and determine which mediator is the best for them.  In addition, at this point of initial contact,  the plan mediator is focusing on selling a service, not resolving the conflict.
• Those in conflict have to work together to agree on a mediator.
• Those using the service may worry that their confidentiality will be threatened
• The mediator’s neutrality can be compromised as the referral came directly as a result of one party’s EAP.  The plan mediator may, even subconsciously, be more concerned with one party’s satisfaction over the other in an effort to ensure future referrals from the employer-sponsored plan.

More Information on Employee Mediation Benefit programs.

Related Posts:

• Why an Employee Mediation Benefit?
• Responding to Presenteeism
• A Model of an Effective Employee Mediation Benefit
• Employee Mediation Benefit: Increase EAP Effectiveness
• Mediation Services as an Employee Benefit
• Employee Stress & Workplace Conflict

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 6:32 am and is filed under CFR, Employee Benefits, Mediation, Workplace & Business Conflict. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.