Confidentiality, Disclosure and Agreements

Whether an agreement is reached or not the detail of what is discussed during the various individual and group sessions is confidential and the parties and mediators are bound by an agreement not to disclose the content of the discussions to anyone outside of the process, unless express permission is given by the parties to do so.

Where an agreement has been reached, the parties may wish to prepare a written agreement or even multiple agreements. A copy of any agreement/s is to be kept by the parties, the mediators and the HR and/or commissioning manager.

No agreements will be allowed to be entered into which are in breach of an employee’s rights or entitlements or which may alter the working conditions of another person. Where an aspect of any agreement may have an impact on the business needs or resources these issues are canvassed with the commissioning manager during the mediation process prior to any agreement being reached.

Agreements of a commercial nature and/or compromise agreements will not be entered into as a result of workplace mediation and would need to be arrived through an appropriate separate process.

Informal hand written notes may be taken by the parties and mediators throughout the process but no notes are to be kept by the parties or the mediators following any of the sessions and any notes taken throughout the process are to be destroyed in the presence of the mediators.

Agreements arrived through workplace mediation are not enforceable by law or the disciplinary procedures of an organisation and are entirely dependent upon the goodwill of the parties to the agreement.

Whilst the mediators and parties enter into a voluntary confidentiality agreement with each other it is important for all involved to know and understand that the mediators will need to provide a report to the commissioning manager about any matters that arise which may incur a duty of care or other issues that will have a significant impact on the business. Where such matters are to be disclosed by the mediator this would be discussed with the parties before hand.

It may also be agreed with the parties that it would be helpful for the mediator to convey some aspects of the matters discussed during the mediation process so that additional resources or support can be put in place for the individuals concerned.

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