Mediation in Individual Employment Relationships – What Can Germany Learn from New Zealand?

Abstract

This paper deals with mediation in individual employment relationships. The author looks at the strengths of mediation and concludes that mediation has considerable advantages over a costly and lengthy litigation. Mediation is a viable means of dealing with most conflicts that arise in the workplace and only in some exceptional cases – such as discrimination, violence or power imbalances – does it have some weaknesses. After pointing out the great potential for employment conflicts the author looks at how different jurisdictions make use of mediation. There are considerable differences in mediation practice between the common law and civil law systems. While mediation plays a substantial role in the common law, it has played only a marginal role in the European civil law systems. The paper uses two concrete examples, New Zealand and Germany, examines the role of mediation in the different legal systems and looks at reasons for the different approaches. The author concludes that the time is ripe for an increased use of mediation in Germany.