ADR Technique: Mediation

How the ADR System Works
This ADR program covers informal and formal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints initiated by current employees and applicants for employment of the Office of the Secretary and the Administration on Aging at headquarters and in the ten Federal regional cities. This includes bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit employees who present issues covered by 29 CFR Part 1614. Participation in this process is voluntary on the part of the aggrieved individual. The program's coverage does not rule out any personnel actions or EEO matters.

Background and Objective
The objective is to resolve EEO complaints as early in the process as possible.

Duration/Current Activity
The ADR program is a permanent process in the informal and formal EEO processes in the Office of the Secretary and Administration on Aging EEO Program.

Rules Governing the Activity
The rules are contained in the revision of "Alternative Dispute Resolution of EEO Complaints through Mediation" (projected for issuance in fall 2002).

Contact
Ann Garrett, Acting EEO Director, Office of the Secretary, HHS, 200 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20201; Telephone: (202) 619-1564; Fax: (202) 619-0823; Email: ann.garrett@hhs.gov.

How the ADR System Works

The Centers for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry's (CDC/ATSDR) ADR program offers dispute resolution and prevention processes such as mediation, collaboration, partnering, conciliation, and facilitation to all employees including civilians, members of the Public Health Service, members of the Commissioned Corps and Fellows employed by the CDC and ATSDR. All employees may access our web site at www.cdc.gov/od/adr for process information. The ADR program was established in 1996. It serves approximately 8500 employees and is a global program used to resolve day-to-day conflicts, including equal employment opportunity complaints at all stages of the process, grievances, general communication and interpersonal relationship problems between supervisors and employees or between colleagues. Parties interested in using the ADR processes contact the ADR Office directly to request a confidential meeting. Referrals are also received from the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Office, the Employee Assistance Program Office (EAP), and the Human Resources Management Office and the Office of General Counsel. The ADR Office is staffed by five full-time staff members and an extended staff of approximately 34 mediators who are members of the Atlanta Federal Executive Board's Shared Neutrals cadre, which is managed by the CDC ADR office. The ADR Director also serves as the contract Ombuds for CDC and ATSDR.

Background/Objective
A variety of ADR processes used in resolution of disputes at CDC and ATSDR since program staff believe that the parties must have maximum flexibility in resolving concerns and issues. While mediation or facilitated discussion remain the most favored processes, neutral fact-finding and conciliation may be used as long as the involved parties agree. A great deal of energy is expended and focus placed on early intervention activities, training and marketing the program to elevate awareness of the ADR process as an effective and viable alternative to the traditional dispute resolution mechanisms. ADR is voluntary for employees but participation is mandatory for supervisors and managers. All participants in ADR processes are entitled to and encouraged to include representatives, whether a Union representative, attorney counselors, Human Resource representatives or friends and family members, for moral support. Significant amounts of time are spent managing the expectations of the process, ensuring that all participants understand what ADR is about, what the chosen process looks and may feel like, what their roles in the process entail, and providing an opportunity to ask any questions about the process. In addition to one-on-one discussion about the process, e-mail information about the ADR process selected is provided to participants for review prior to scheduled sessions. There is no charge for services provided. All employees, supervisors and managers were offered Conflict Resolution Skills and ADR awareness training when the program was instituted in the 1996 timeframe. Conflict Resolution Skills training continues on a regular and recurring basis and is also tailored to fit specific situations. Additionally, the ADR Office staff provides team and trust building sessions for groups undergoing difficult change or experiencing conflict. Our annual ADR Conference, which is to be held in the fall of each year, is another avenue of providing information about ADR to the Federal community.

Duration/Current Activity
The ADR program was established in 1996 and became operational at that time. CDC and ATSDR strive to institutionalize key aspects of ADR throughout the organization. Focus on early intervention as a preventative mechanism and recurring training to increase awareness of the availability and benefit of ADR as a resource for all employees has resulted in a dramatically increased usage by employees at every level.

Rules Governing the Activity
Rules governing ADR at CDC and ATSDR are contained in partnership agreements, memoranda of understanding, agency collective bargaining agreements grievance policies and various other agency documents.

Contact
Reba Rivera, Director, ADR, CDC/ATSDR, 1600 Clifton Road, ATTN: MS D-67, Atlanta, GA 30333; telephone (404) 371-5917; Email ror5@cdc.gov; fax (404) 371-5923. Internet web site address: www.cdc.gov/od/adr.

ADR Technique: Mediation

How the ADR System Works
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services's (CMS's) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program for Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints became operational on September 15, 1999, as a joint venture with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) - Local 1923. The program, identified by the acronym CARE - Conflicts Addressed and Resolved Expeditiously, covers EEO complaints initiated by CMS employees and applicants for employment at the Agency's central office in Baltimore, MD and in its ten regional offices across the country.

The program offers mediation as an alternative to the traditional EEO process during both the informal and formal stages. Mediators for these cases are obtained through the Department of Health and Human Services' Sharing Neutrals Program and various Federal Executive Boards' Sharing Neutrals Programs nationwide. On occasion, CMS has contracted with GSA-approved vendors for this service. The parties have 90 days to engage in mediation. If during this allotted time the parties reach an agreement, the case is closed and the agreement is binding on all parties. If the matter is not resolved during mediation, the complaint continues through the traditional EEO process.

90% percent of CMS's 450 managers have attended a 1-day ADR training session provided by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. CMS is exploring ways to expand this training to all CMS employees to further market the program and encourage continued success.

Background/Objective
The purpose of the program is to resolve EEO concerns/complaints at the earliest possible stage of the complaint and at the lowest level within the organization; restore productivity to areas affected by complaints; and improve working relationships.

Duration/Current Activity
The program, introduced as an 18-month pilot in September 1999, continues to be an option for employees and applicants as a means to address EEO concerns. Since September 1999, 67 % of the complaints mediated have been settled. This significant success of resolving EEO complaints through CARE has resulted in a considerable reduction in formal complaint filings. Over the last two years, the Agency has realized a 49% decrease in formal complaints.

Rules Governing the Activity
The rules governing this activity are contained within CMS's ADR Program for EEO Complaints. In sum, the program conforms to the core principles set forth in EEOC's policy statement on ADR; fairness, voluntariness, neutrality, confidentiality, and enforceability.

Contact
Ramon Suris-Fernandez, Director, Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Blvd., N2-22-16, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850; Telephone: 410-786-5110; Email: rsurisfernandez@cms.hhs.gov

ADR Technique: Mediation, Facilitation

How the ADR System Works
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a two-step Dispute Resolution System (DRS) for non-bargaining unit employees. An employee may choose to air an employment concern through various options, including mediation, at each step of the process. If, by Step 2, a resolution is not accomplished through mediation or other elected alternative method, the Dispute Filing will default to a written decision from the Dispute Resolution Official.

Background/Objective
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has provided a grievance system for the use at all DHHS agencies for many years. In 1995, the Department gave permission for DHHS agencies to develop their own grievance systems. FDA enthusiastically began to develop a creative grievance system using ADR. The purpose of FDA's DRS is to establish a process to resolve employment conflicts for non-bargaining unit, civilian employees. The objective of the DRS is to ensure prompt and effective processing of disputes and to promote early, collaborative resolution of conflicts.

Duration/CurrentActivity
The FDA Dispute Resolution System has been in use since January 13, 1997. An updated version, providing fine-tuning and clarifications became effective in February 1998. The current DRS became effective in February 2002, it was updated to streamline the process and it provides the parties with a Dispute Filing form.

Rules Governing the Activity
The procedures for governing the DRS are contained in instructions issued by FDA.

Contact
Cecilia Boswell, Employee and Labor Relations Branch, Food and Drug Administration, HFA-430, Room 9-89, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857; Telephone: 301-827-4180; Fax: 301-443-0087; Email: cboswell@ora.fda.gov.

ADR Technique: Mediation, Facilitation

How the ADR System Works
Within its Dispute Resolution System (DRS), FDA offers opportunities to resolve differences in various informal manners. Mediation is the process most commonly used to help resolve employee-supervisor disputes and difficulties among peers by those who prefer the flexibility of informal problem solving. FDA has a number of employees who have been trained in the mediation process, including a mediator who participates in the HHS Sharing Neutrals program. The goal of this effort is to effectively resolve differences as early as possible by allowing employees to be directly involved in creating solutions.

Background/Objective
FDA recognizes that employees occasionally have organizational concerns or experience interpersonal conflict while at work. Unresolved issues create problems with morale, communication, teamwork, productivity, etc. Frequently, adversarial processes produce high personal and Agency costs and, end in unsatisfactory scenarios by distancing the initiating employee from the original source of the conflict and possible resolutions. In some cases, adversarial processes are unsatisfactory because they leave the initiating employee bitter and create losses of productivity and creativity for those associated with the dispute. In an effort to avoid these situations and resolve employment-related conflicts expeditiously, FDA offers the DRS. The DRS is designed to be fair, equitable, and timely and, to provide opportunities to resolve conflicts amicably.

Duration/Current Activity
FDA staff has been trained in the methods of ADR for a number of years and has two certified Dispute Resolution Specialists on staff, as well as an HHS Sharing Neutrals program mediator.

Rules Governing the Activity
There are no formal, internal rules governing alternative approaches to resolving disputes. Parties voluntarily enter into the process. The normal expectations of neutrality and confidentiality are clearly understood and accepted by the staff serving as mediators and facilitators. Employees learn of and secure dispute resolution assistance through the Employee and Labor Relations Branch.

Contacts
Cecilia Boswell, Employee Relations Specialist, Food and Drug Administration, Parklawn Bldg., Room 9-89, HFA-430, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857; Telephone: 301-827-4180; Fax: 301-443-0087; Email: cboswell@ora.fda.gov.

ADR Technique: Multiple Techniques

How the ADR System Works
The Office of Research Services (ORS) ADR program, administered by the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution (CADR or Center), addresses a wide range of disputes including: EEO complaints, administrative and labor grievances, inter-personal disputes, and construction and other contract disputes. Each matter presented is assessed and a determination is made by Center staff, in collaboration with the parties to the conflict, as to whether the matter is suitable or appropriate for intervention. The program's services begin with an informal intake session normally performed by the ADR program assistant. Once the general intake process is completed, the parties may be referred to meet with a mediator in a more formal intake meeting. Where coaching is employed, the dispute may be resolved using ideas or techniques offered during the intake process, or mediation may be pursued. To monitor the status of a matter or monitor the success or failure of an intervention, participants are encouraged to contact the Center subsequent to receiving services and are provided with an evaluation form to provide feedback on the process and mediators.

The Center maintains a roster of collateral duty neutrals recruited from within the organization as well as from other Federal and private organizations. The center has also established several networking relationships to share neutral resources with other Federal agencies and within its own Department of Health and Human Services.

Background/Objective
The ORS program was designed an implemented by an ADR Implementation Team, which partnered with the agency's labor unions, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) office, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Human Resource Branch, and Labor and Employee Relations staff in setting up the program. The Center coordinates to include each of these organizations in the ADR program. To ensure that all members of the ORS workforce were introduced and exposed to the availability of the services and obtained a comprehensive understanding the program, mandatory training was provided. The training included a series of Positive Work Environment Training Sessions and a series of ADR Briefings and Brown Bag ADR Seminars. In addition, an Open House for all work force members was held.

The Center's goals are to administer a comprehensive dispute resolution program that affords all employees the opportunity to work in an environment that has a goal of minimizing stress and anger, hostility and negativity, and miscommunication, non-communication and mal-communication. Further, the program seeks to empower members of the organization with tools, skills and sensibilities to facilitate effective communication and, at the bare minimum, be prepared to manage conflict in a way that does not disrupt the work environment and diminish morale.

Duration/Current Activity
The Center was established in June 1996 and the doors officially opened in July. Through the years, the focus of the program has expanded in response to organizational needs and requests for specific types of services. As a result, the Center received the NIH's Office of the Director Award of Merit in both 1999 and 2000. It was recognized for services provided to support agency team building, strategic planning, and problem-solving initiatives.

The 2002 award specifically recognized the Center's work with the Office of Research Services, Facility Accessibility Advisory Committee. The committee addresses physical accessibility issues in the design, construction and renovation of existing and future construction on the NIH campus. The Center was asked to facilitate the Committee's monthly strategic planning meetings. As a result of its participation, the Center expanded its focus to incorporate construction partnering and construction mediation into its services, helping to resolve disputes with contractors during the life of a construction contract.

Rules Governing the Activity
The Center has produced a policy, procedures and formats manual, which is provided to all mediators working for the Center. The manual contains a hard copy format of all policies, forms and procedures used by the Center and its mediators, as well as a computer disc making the standard forms and formats easily available for mediators' use.

Contact
Dorethea Taylor-Kennedy, Program Director, ORS, Center for ADR, 45 Center Drive, MSC 6145, Building 45, Room 1Bc17, Bethesda, MD 20892; Telephone: (301) 435-2329; Fax: (301) 480-9882; Email: taylord@exchange.nih.gov

ADR Technique: Ombudsman

How the ADR System Works
The Office of the Ombudsman/Center for Cooperative Resolution coordinates and provides a full range of dispute resolution services for all 27 of NIH's Institutes and Centers. The Ombudsman, who directs the Center, serves as a focal point for conflict resolution at NIH by (1) providing confidential, neutral, informal assistance to employees and managers in resolving work-related concerns and (2) developing and coordinating effective dispute resolution processes and procedures.

Staff Ombudsmen work in conflict intervention, conflict prevention and internal education on ways to manage conflict. They address individual conflicts and concerns as well as multi-party and group conflicts. They address every sort of issue that arises in the NIH environment - scientific disputes and employee-supervisor conflicts, racial and ethnic tensions and difficulties between peers. Although all of the staff are trained mediators, they employ a full array of ADR techniques in addition to mediation- facilitation, shuttle diplomacy, coaching, consulting, peer panels and partnering agreements. The Ombudsmen are scrupulous in maintaining neutrality and independence and rigorous in protecting confidentiality.

Background/Objective
In 1995, the Directors of the Office of Equal Opportunity and the Office of Human Resource Management initiated a collaboration to reinvent dispute resolution at the NIH. Everyone within the system considered the traditional administrative dispute processes to be ineffective and costly to the organization, both economically and in terms of employee productivity and morale. They formed a NIH ADR Working Group charged with designing and implementing a program that would work independently of the traditional formal dispute systems. Within the scientific community, the Deputy Director for Intramural Research, also recognizing the need to more effectively address conflicts arising within the scientific staff, had charged the Committee on Scientific Conduct and Ethics with developing a process for resolution of scientific disputes. These efforts were merged into one. The Working Group researched various models of ADR and recommended adoption and development of an Ombudsman program over the more prevalent mediation-only programs. After a one year pilot project serving five institutes, its success led to its expansion to the entire organization in January of 1999.

The Center's goals and objectives are to:

1. Further scientific research through efficient, effective and innovative conflict management and resolution methods.
2. Provide an alternative to traditional grievance and equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaint processes.
3. Improve the work environment, preserve work place relationships, and enhance the quality of work life.
4. Reduce the costs associated with, and time committed to, traditional formal dispute processing.
5. Improve participant satisfaction with dispute resolution and its outcomes.

Duration/Current Activity
The Office of the Ombudsman serves a population of approximately 20,000 NIH scientists, administrators and support staff across 27 NIH Institutes and Centers. In 2000, the Office of the Ombudsman handled a total of 347 cases involving more than 800 consumers. Many of the cases involved multiple issues. In addition, it is common for multiple processes to be in reaching resolution of cases. More than 40 percent of all cases are closed within two weeks, 60 percent of cases were closed within 6 weeks and over 90 percent of all cases were closed in 6 months.

Rules Governing the Activity
The staff strictly adhere to The Ombudsman Association's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice for organizational ombudsmen. The NIH Office of the Ombudsman was established as an independent, impartial/neutral, confidential, informal office. The Ombudsman reports directly to the Deputy Director of NIH. The Ombudsman does not make or change policy. However, the Office of the Ombudsman has the responsibility to identify and report on systemic issues raised by the conflicts and problems it handles.

Contact
Howard Gadlin, Ombudsman, Office of the Ombudsman, Center for Cooperative Resolution, National Institutes of Health. 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg. 31, Room 1B39, MS-2087, Bethesda, MD 20892; Telephone: (301) 594-7231; FAX: (301) 594-7948.