Wednesday 2 nd November 2011 The Grand Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria

1. Presentation to Dispute Resolution Alternative Methods (DRAM) DelegatesSheik Khan, Senior National Officer Wednesday 2nd November 2011 The Grand Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria

2. What is the JIB? • The Joint Industry Board for the Electrical Contracting Industry (JIB) was set up in 1968 by its constituent parties, the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) and the EETPU (now Unite the Union) • It was set up to combat the poor industrial relations in the industry at that time and was a forward thinking collective agreement to stablilise the industry • It is an independent body and is there to serve and administer its National Agreement • It is set up on the basis of a series of Regional Boards and National Committees which report to its overseeing body, the National Board

3. What is the JIB? • This contractual collective agreement set up, amongst other things (wages, a grading structure etc), a method by which both individual and collective disputes could be resolved • It is a method of Alternative Dispute Resolution, heavily focussed on mediation although its procedures operate along the same lines as the Employment Tribunal in the UK

4. What type of claims does it deal with? • It is important to recognise your own limits. Therefore as far as Unfair Dismissal claims are concerned, the JIB will hear “ordinary” Unfair Dismissal cases eg conduct, capability, redundancy, SOSR, constructive dismissal BUT NOT discriminatory (age, sex, race etc), health and safety, trade union, blacklisting etc cases where there is a greater degree of complexity surrounding the issues • Other types of cases are notice pay, redundancy payments, holiday pay etc or other cases by agreement between the parties

5. How successful is it? • As you would expect me to say, it is very successful! • We regularly successfully settle 85-95% of cases • In 2010 we had 97 cases referred into the machinery and of those cases that were not rejected by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman or ruled out of time etc, we had 64 cases eligible to be heard. Of these, 59 were settled (92%) • These cases do not include the cases which are settled between the parties or with the assistance of the JIB that are not lodged within the procedures

6. How successful is it? • The procedures work best where the company is represented by the ECA and the claimant is represented by the Union. This is primarily because these bodies know and understand the Agreement and working practices • Additionally both parties are representing the JIB and not either the ECA or the Union. Neither side sticks to a party line and looks to resolving the issue at hand • Following a Dispute Committee there are two further stages of appeal within the JIB as well as the possibility of the case being heard by an Employment Tribunal • Consequently both sides act on behalf of the industry and not their own party

7. JIB Mediation Success Rate Year Number of Number of Mediation DC Hearings Settlements Success rate 2010 5 59 92% 2009 5 85 95% 2008 5 32 86% 2007 2 34 94% 2006 1 26 96% 2005 3 17 85% 2004 8 41 84% • 10 26 72% 2002 5 42 89% 2001 11 65 86% 2000 6 60 91%

8. How does it work? • The JIB’s procedures comply with current legislation which is by way of the acas Code of Practice – Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures • Whilst the JIB’s dispute procedures exist as part of the JIB agreement, it does not substitute the right for an individual or the Union to submit a claim to the Employment Tribunal subject to, where applicable, qualifying service • Where cases are also lodged with the Employment Tribunal, the claim should be “stayed” until the conclusion of the JIB’s procedures

9. How does it work? • A claim is lodged in a similar way to an Employment Tribunal claim ie by way of an ET1 equivalent (the Originating Form) • Response is then sought from the employer via an ET3 equivalent (the Respondent’s Form ) • Once the Forms have been received the paperwork is sent to the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the local Regional Board for their views as to whether or not the case merits the setting up of a formal Dispute Committee hearing • Whilst the paperwork is with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, the JIB sets up provisional dates for a mediation and a Dispute Committee hearing

10. How does it work? • The Dispute Hearing is set a maximum of 12 weeks in the future, with a mediation meeting before this • The reason for this is that if mediation is unsuccessful then a Dispute Hearing date has already been established to hear the claim and helps to expeditiously dispose of the claim • If the Chairman and Deputy Chairman refuse a Dispute Hearing then the dates are cancelled • The parties are informed in writing of the reasons why the application has been refused

11. The Mediation Meeting • The JIB mediator facilitates and chairs the meeting which is held in an informal manner • The meeting solely concentrates on the issues in hand • The type of mediation the JIB uses is evaluative mediation which is mediation based upon legal rights and entitlements and the potential outcomes of a JIB Dispute Committee and/or Employment Tribunal • Ultimately we can reasonably predict the worst case scenario for both parties and these can be used as the basis for any settlement eg schedule of loss • It is useful particularly where a collective agreement is concerned because potential losses can be fairly accurately calculated

12. The Mediation Meeting • Contrary to what people may think, not all settlements are financial • Indeed some cases are withdrawn by claimants following mediation meetings without financial recompense • It is not uncommon for both sides to become entrenched in their own views and an independent mediator looks at things with no vested interest • The JIB is independent. Its procedures operate as a free service to the Industry as part of the JIB Agreement. We are not a commercial body • The mediator will look at what the JIB Agreement and the law says and applies it

13. What happens when mediation is successful? • Firstly there is no pressure to accept any offer made at a mediation meeting • However when a settlement has been agreed, the JIB will draw up settlement papers (modelled on the acas CoT3) and terms are tailored accordingly. The papers contain confidentiality clauses • The settlement papers are signed by both parties and copy is sent to them as well as a copy being retained by the JIB

14. What happens when mediation is not successful? • If a case is not resolved through mediation then the JIB will proceed through its Dispute Committee hearing route for the date already set • Mediation is still possible up until the conclusion of the dispute hearing – indeed cases have been settled at the hearing itself • The formal arrangements for the Dispute Committee hearing are then confirmed • The JIB will prepare the bundles ie the paperwork that may be referred to as evidence

15. The Dispute Committee Hearing • The Dispute Committee comprises of an ECA member and a Unite member who are not connected with the dispute, together with a JIB National Officer who acts as Secretary and takes the minutes • The format is less formal than an Employment Tribunal although it follows the same basic structure ie both sides give their version of events, questions are asked, both sides sum up and a full decision is made, written up and issued to the parties • Decisions must follow the same logic as those of an Employment Tribunal together with an assessment of remedy where applicable • No Dispute Hearing has ever lasted more than 1 day

16. Rights of Appeal • Both parties have two further rights of appeal • These rights of appeal are to the National Appeals Committee and ultimately to the JIB’s independent Chairman • If following this process the claimant is still not satisfied with the outcome then any Employment Tribunal application can be reactivated • To date no JIB Dispute Committee decision has reached an Employment Tribunal

17. Comparisons between the JIB and the Employment Tribunal procedures • JIB is structured but less formal than an Employment Tribunal • Whilst having a due regard to the law, our approach is far less legalistic • Mediation success rate is very high • Disputes are resolved by people who understand the industry • No swearing an oath or affirming • Our procedures are highly regarded by both acas and BIS • The JIB staff are not from the legal profession • It is a free service provided as part of JIB membership • It is far more cost effective

18. Could the same process work for other industries or organisations? • Why not? We think so • It would work particularly well where there is a good relationship between the employer and the Union and helps build that relationship by working in partnership • It would also work very well where there is a collective agreement in force • It would save many cases being referred into the Employment Tribunal machinery by resolving them at an early stage – something in line with UK Government objectives

19. Could the same process work for other industries or organisations? • It costs on average something like £9000 for an employer to defend an Employment Tribunal claim – it is far cheaper through an internal procedure and less stressful • None of the people involved in the JIB, ECA and the Union who administer the scheme and deal with it on a day to day basis are legally qualified although we have a good working knowledge of our own Agreement and the legal principles • Essentially this means the parties don’t get bogged down in legal debates and submissions

20. Could the same process work for other industries or organisations? • Building on the JIB’s success we have set up an external mediation service. Full details at www.jibms.org.uk • This service is a fee paying service for those outside of the JIB Agreement • We have 5 retired ex senior acas mediators working for us who have collectively mediated 1000s of cases • The JIB will be happy to help you set up procedures for interested organisations to look at ways of resolving and avoiding employment disputes going through the legal system

21. Questions?