The dispute doesn't have to go the distance.
Most employment matters are settled, not fought to the end. Mediation is the confidential, without-prejudice table where they're resolved — early, privately, and on terms you help shape.
A faster, quieter way through.
Before a matter hardens into a hearing at the Employment Relations Authority, mediation offers a better path — for everyone at the table.
Said here, stays here
Discussions are private and without prejudice — nothing said in mediation can be used later at the Authority or in court.
Weeks, not months
Mediation is usually scheduled in weeks. A hearing can be many months away — and far more costly to reach.
You shape the outcome
No one imposes a decision. Any settlement is one both parties agree to — so the result is one you helped make.
One table, then two rooms, then one agreement.
Employment mediation follows a quiet, deliberate rhythm. Here's the shape of the day.
You prepare
We build your timeline, gather documents and set a clear, realistic settlement position.
The joint opening
Both parties and the mediator meet — in person or online — and each sets out their position.
Private caucus
Parties move to separate rooms; the mediator shuttles between, testing options in confidence.
The settlement
Agreement is captured in a signed record of settlement — final, and binding on both sides.
What mediation offers each side.
Both parties come for their own reasons — and both have something to gain from resolving it here. We act for one side, with a clear view of what moves the other.
Resolution, without the long fight
A way to be heard and made whole — without months of stress or the exposure of a hearing.
- →A confidential forum to put your grievance and be taken seriously.
- →Outcomes a hearing can't order — an apology, an agreed reference, clean exit terms.
- →Faster certainty and payment, on terms you agree to rather than wait for.
- →Senior support speaking for you, so you're never negotiating alone.
Containment, cost, and certainty
A way to close a matter quietly and commercially — protecting time, money and reputation.
- →A private resolution that keeps the dispute out of a public determination.
- →Cost and risk capped early, before they compound at the Authority.
- →Flexible terms — confidentiality, agreed wording, a clean break.
- →Workplace relationships preserved where the employment continues.
A settlement you shaped.
Mediation can deliver what a hearing often can't — flexible, human terms, recorded and made binding.
Signed & binding
Terms captured in a mediator-signed record — final, enforceable, and the end of the matter.
Agreed payment
Compensation or a settlement sum, with certainty over amount and timing.
References & wording
An agreed reference or statement of service, and language both sides can live with.
Exit terms
Where the relationship ends, terms that let both sides move on without loose ends.
Confidentiality
Mutual confidentiality, so the matter — and its terms — stay between the parties.
An apology
Sometimes what matters most — an acknowledgement a hearing can never compel.
Common questions.
Is mediation confidential? +
Is mediation compulsory? +
Who decides the outcome? +
Do I need representation at mediation? +
What if we don't reach agreement? +
Bring it to the table — before it goes further.
Speak with a senior adviser, in confidence, about whether mediation is the right path and how to come to it prepared.
Book a confidential consultation →