Eagle-eyed readers and anyone involved with industrial or fair employment tribunal claims will have noticed a change of approach of late from the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland. They have, and will continue to promote, earlier approaches in employment disputes than might have been seen in the past.

Much of the new responses came from the DEL consultation exercise into dispute resolution in NI, which also led to the repeal of the statutory grievance procedures and brought us a new code of practice on disciplinary and grievance matters:
http://bit.ly/ftr8Sl

In relation to the LRA conciliation of tribunal claims, the law has now changed and the emphasis is on getting in quickly BEFORE a claim is lodged with the tribunal. Maxine Murphy-Higgins from the LRA explains...

With effect from 3 April 2011 the Labour Relations Agency has enhanced the service provided to parties who wish to resolve employment disputes before they are lodged with the Tribunal. This service will now be known as Pre-Claim Conciliation (PCC) and for a number of users will be different to the approach the Agency has taken in the past. Under PCC the Agency helpline will now proactively identify potential referrals for this service in their discussions with callers. However it is important to note that the voluntary and confidential nature of the service remains unchanged.

When an issue is referred to Pre-Claim Conciliation from the Helpline parties will be contacted by a Conciliation Officer who will talk through the issues and options, run through the benefits of the service and answer any questions that parties may have.
The Conciliation Officer does not impose outcomes or make judgements on the rights or wrongs of the matter in dispute; they simply try to help people settle their differences on their own terms.

In the past most of the referrals for conciliation prior to a claim being lodged at the Tribunal came from employers and at the point of contact the parties were usually pre-disposed to settle. A majority of callers to the Helpline are employees therefore it is likely that PCC referrals from the Helpline will come from employees. There is also a higher likelihood that PCC referrals will involve unrepresented parties. The Agency therefore expects that conciliation discussions for referrals from the Helpline will require a higher degree of discussion around the issues in dispute and persuasion to get the parties involved.

Previously the majority of cases for conciliation prior to the lodgement of a claim with the Tribunal involved Unfair Dismissal rights but the Agency expect that PCC referrals will cover all of the jurisdictions. In addition as the Agency is now getting involved in a dispute at a much earlier stage there is a higher probability that they will be dealing with cases where the employment relationship is still continuing.

Further information can be found in the Agency’s Pre-Claim Conciliation Explained Booklet:
http://bit.ly/hu7VFR

Or by calling the Helpline on 02890 321442/02871 269639 choosing option 1

You will find out more about the Labour relations Agency's dispute resolution services, including mediation and arbitration on its website:
http://bit.ly/dEJGHE