I. Purpose

The Employee Mediation Program allows employees involved in a dispute to rely on a neutral third party for resolution of the dispute. The purpose of the program is to promote alternatives to and resolution of conflicts and to foster respect for differences. The focus of the Mediation Program is to develop an understanding of the needs and concerns of the parties involved and to forge a consensus on reasonable actions to resolve disputes.

II. General Information

A. The Employee Mediation Program may be used in the following circumstances:

1. To resolve informal employee conflicts;
2. To resolve alleged incidents of discrimination and harassment, refer to Policy 1.37 Discrimination and Harassment;
3. To resolve nonviolent disputes between employees;
4. To resolve complaints referred to the College by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Referral Back Mediation Program.
5. In appropriate circumstances, to resolve alleged incidents of sexual misconduct in accordance with Policy 1.41 Sexual Misconduct.

B. Mediation will not be used to resolve disputes or grievances related to criminal offenses, matters of the performance evaluation process, dismissal, layoffs, non-renewal of contracts, discipline, or other matters of employment except through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Referral Back Mediation Program.

C. An employee may choose to withdraw from the mediation process at any time during mediation and reenter the informal or formal College procedure designed to address his/her particular concern(s).

D. Participation in the Employee Mediation Program will be on a voluntary basis. All parties participating in the mediation process must be willing to settle their dispute through mediation. Once the mediation process is complete and all involved parties have agreed in writing to honor the mediation solution, the involved parties are expected to uphold the agreement.

IV. Administrative Procedures

Refer to the Mediation Program Procedure for more information about the Mediation Program.

Related Procedures

Employee Mediation Program Procedure

Changes

Changes approved by the Board of Trustees on May 6, 2020

Changes approved by Cabinet on November 1, 2004; March 3, 2008, March 16, 2015; August 10, 2015; November 7, 2016