ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION OF EMPLOYMENT CONFLICTS - THE SEARCH FOR STANDARDS

Employee complaints regarding workplace conditions, treatment, and all eged violations of their various statutory rights occur in all organiz ations. Efforts to resolve such grievances through appeal to governmen t regulatory agencies or the courts is usually a very time consuming, expensive and frustrating process. Employers, public and private, are increasingly offering alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms, such as ombudspersons, complaint procedures, mediation and arbitratio n, in an effort to resolve complaints sooner, and at lower cost. Expan ded use of such procedures has raised concerns about their quality and whether they provide adequate protection to employees, especially whe re statutory rights are at issue. This article examines the trend towa rd wider use of ADR for setting employment conflicts and recent propos als for quality standards for such procedures.