THE Ministry of Labour's mediation unit has recorded a high success rate since its establishment in October last year.
Minister for Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment, Jone Usamate said the unit had a success rate of 75 to 80 per cent since it was set up.
Mr Usamate said the mediation unit was a form of an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism used to resolve differences between workers and employers.
He said this had been immensely successful with the unit continuing to mediate differences between parties.
"The great advantage of mediation or other forms of ADR is that they shorten the time it takes to resolve conflicts, cost far less than normal litigation processes, and also do something that does not take place in a Court of Law, the process actually heals relationships," said Mr Usamate.
He said a skilled mediator would ensure the parties in conflict walked away from the mediation satisfied that their interests had been met
"At the ministry, we suggest that this is something that should be extended to other areas, and not be limited to just labour disputes," he added.
Meanwhile, the ministry is appealing to all employers to enlist the services of qualified unemployed people from the National Employment Centre (NEC). Mr Usamate said businesses should view this as a social responsibility. "At this time of economic recovery, we would like all employers who employ 50 or more workers to engage suitably qualified unemployed persons from NEC as attachés or volunteers on a ration of at least five per cent of the total number of workers employed as required by NEC decree," said Mr Usamate.
"This is to be viewed as a chance for our unemployed to participate in organisations and also give them much needed industry skills and experiences."