Surprising effectiveness of mediation revealed

Just how many employment cases are successfully resolved through mediation in Singapore?

Surprising effectiveness of mediation revealed

Most cases that are referred to mediation by employers are resolved ‘amicably’ according to statistics revealed in Singapore parliament.

Josephine Teo, Second Minister for Manpower spoke to the Singapore parliament yesterday about the effectiveness of mediation by the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).

Between April and December 2017, TADM concluded mediation for 6,000 salary-related claims under the Employment Claims Act (ECA), most of which were unsurprisingly filed by employees.

According to Teo, an impressive 79% of the 6,000 claims were settled ‘amicably’ through mediation.  

The minority of cases that weren’t settled at mediation were referred to the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) for adjudication.

The remaining 9% were claims involving non-attendance at mediation.

The Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) was set up in April 2017 as an arrangement between the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

Teo did not comment on whether the cases were resolved in the employer’s favour over the period, but previous figures indicate that almost all mediation cases involve employers paying out salaries to their employees.