A creative approach to conflict - tips on negotiating within a protected conversation.

Employers and employees can have a ‘protected conversation’ at any time provided ACAS standards are followed (see www.acas.org) with all the usual benefits: tax free payments, avoiding legal costs…not to mention stress. But some employees have an unfortunate inclination to look back in anger when finding another job as quickly as possible is more valuable than a dispute in the long term.  Under basic legal principles an employee who has been treated unfairly has a duty to mitigate their loss by taking reasonable steps to find other work (Section 123 Employment Rights Act ’96).

At tribunal mitigation is only talked about at the end of a case…but I think it should be part of the discussion at the outset.

I find the following questions helpful when advising clients on settlement:

It’s also helpful to have ideas to hand tangible information about the employee’s job prospects such as:

Lawyers tend to hold these things back as a condition of a Settlement Agreement but I prefer to make offers for help finding work open and unconditional.

And don’t forget to ask if there’s anything else you can do to help! It’s a simple but powerful question which can head off debate about what ‘help’ should have been earlier on…