Conciliation

Conciliation

Conciliation is negotiation and discussion between both parties with a Conciliator assisting them. It allows both parties to settle a problem and reach a satisfactory outcome for all. The

Conciliator independently assists both parties to try and reach an agreement but has no power to impose agreement.

Conciliation is a good way to reach agreement. It is faster, free of charge and less distressing than going to Hearing and gives both parties greater control over the outcome.

Conciliation can be informal or sometimes the Conciliator will suggest a meeting between the parties called a Conciliation Conference.

Cases

Published: Thursday April 9, 2009 MYT 2:43:00 PM

Conciliation may be made compulsory to resolve IR cases faster

By DHARMENDER SINGH

PUTRAJAYA: The Human Resource Ministry is looking to make conciliation compulsory each time affected workers report their case to the Labour Department as part of a move to help resolve their cases faster.

Its minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said under the current system, affected workers had the option of whether to seek conciliation or have the matter referred to the Industrial court directly to hear their case.

He said the problem was that when the workers opted to take their case to court it had to be first referred to the Human Resource Minister for decision on whether there was a valid case and this meant looking through some 3,000 cases yearly.

This together with all the court proceedings at times meant the complainants had to wait for up to three years, at times, for a decision, he said.

“We have already introduced the conciliation system under the Labour Department to some extent and have trained and are training staff in the field with help from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

“The service has proven successful and has helped reduce the number of cases referred to court to about 700 last year from over 2,000 before that,” he told a press conference after handing out...