Member Article

Dealing with Disputes & Grievances at Work

If you run a business for a long period of time, there will eventually be a situation in which a dispute or grievance arises in the workplace. It may be small, to begin with, but these things can quickly escalate. In such cases, having a strong hold over the issue and understanding the right steps to take is vital in order to ensure that your business is not impacted by such issues and that they are kept ‘isolated’, so to speak.

As such, here are a number of things that you need in place in your business in order to ensure you can handle disputes quickly and efficiently.

Have a Plan

As a business, the fact that legal issues may at some point arise is not something you would like to consider. A smooth, legal-free, road is obviously the preferable path. Unfortunately, reality and our ideals do not always align the way we would like. For that reason, it always pays to be prepared for when something does go wrong. An effective dispute resolution system should be inbuilt to your business as you grow. It is advisable to seek the counsel of a corporate solicitor to further understand the steps you need to take when setting this up.

Ultimately, a system gives you something to fall back on when issues do arrive. Meaning you and your team are not running around as if the building was on fire when a dispute does make itself known.

Ironclad Contracts

Often, when legal disputes or issues arise in the workplace they often surround the particulars of a contract - whether that is a business contract or employment contract. Reviewing contracts when an issue arises is vital to understand your position as soon as possible. Knowing the terms of the contract that relate to the dispute in question, the established resolution procedure associated with them and the clause for termination is important at this stage. Doing so can help you understand how and why you could come to terms with ending your contractual relationship legally.

Legal Counsel

Whether you believe it will come to the point of taking legal action or not, when a dispute arises it is imperative that you seek legal counsel as soon as possible. A solicitor can give you a rundown of your options and help you to understand your best next step. This can be especially valuable if you do not wish to lose the employee or business in question.

Mediation

Wherever possible, a dispute in the workplace needs to be resolved without escalating to legal action. To achieve this both parties need to sit down and speak openly during a mediation session. Mediation is ultimately the most sensible course of action, though despite best intentions and efforts it is not always possible to achieve happiness on both sides of the mediation discussion.

However, proper mediation can be very costly and long-winded. Meaning if it fails, you then have to face the cost of having gone through both mediation and litigation proceedings. If you feel that mediation would not work or the other party seems unagreeable, then it may be worthwhile missing this step.

Move to Litigation

If communication, discussion and even ADR fail, then you will have no choice but to move matters to litigation. In some cases, litigation is the only option afforded to both parties if they cannot find an amicable agreement in any other way. Having a knowledgeable litigation solicitors Manchester on your side is vital in these situations, as they can help you to protect your interests whilst also reaching an accord that is satisfactory to both parties.

At the end of the day, a dispute can be extremely costly for your business and cause a lot of undue stress. The key to being successful in dealing with legal disputes in your business is to do so as quickly and cheaply as possible. Make sure you are prepared and understand the necessities involved in solving a dispute beforehand, that way you will be one step closer to resolving issues when they arise!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Pannone Corp .