Archived News Release--Caution: information may be out of date.

OPA Press Release: Labor Department Announces Alternative Dispute Resolution Proposal [02/11/1997]

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The Department of Labor announced today that it will propose testing a new program to resolve some workplace disputes without costly litigation. Known as Alternative Dispute Resolution, or ADR, the program is aimed at resolving cases between employees and employers through mediation or arbitration with neutral outsiders, instead of through lawsuits brought by the Department.

Scheduled for publication in the Federal Register Wednesday, the Department's test proposal will be open for public comments during a 60-day comment period. In a first for the Department, comments can be filed over the Internet through the Department's website located at http://www.dol.gov/dol/regs/comments/main.htm.

"There are times when workers and employers don't need the courts to settle their differences," said Cynthia A. Metzler, Acting Secretary of Labor. "Mediation and arbitration can work faster, less expensively and just as fairly as litigation."

The Department's test proposal would offer workers and employers the use of mediation and arbitration, two types of voluntary Alternative Dispute Resolution. Mediation involves the use of a neutral person to help the parties reach a settlement of their dispute. In arbitration, a neutral decision-maker renders a judgment after listening to evidence from both sides.

The Department's proposal would cover selected cases under certain laws enforced by the Department, including

1. safety-discrimination cases under the Occupational Safety and Health Act,
2. Family and Medical Leave Act cases,
3. employee-whistle blower cases under a variety of environmental laws,
4. Fair Labor Standards Act cases,
5. equal employment opportunity cases under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act, and
6. employment discrimination cases involving federal contractors under Executive Order 11246.

"We're committed to enforcing laws that protect workers and their families," said J. Davitt McAteer, Acting Solicitor for the Department of Labor. "With the Department's Alternative Dispute Resolution proposal, we we would give employees and employers with options for settling workplace disputes, while saving our resources for cases that truly have to be litigated."

Archived News Release--Caution: information may be out of date.