The benefits of mediation include:
- Voluntary in nature – Participation by voluntary agreement;
- Informality – Absence of complicated procedure, documentation, witness testimony, investigation, and formal records;
- Opportunity for early dialogue – Early discussion before possible escalation of issue;
- The presence of a neutral third party to facilitate discussion– A resolution is not imposed by the neutral third party, rather the mediator is there to facilitate productive discussion between the parties;
- Opportunity to reach creative resolution – The parties, in most instances, are free to explore creative solutions to the issues presented;
- The process is confidential – Participants sign a pledge of confidentiality prior to the session, and nothing said during the mediation session will be used in future proceeding if the matter is not resolved during mediation;
- Allows the parties to take a proactive approach – Mediation allows the parties to take a hands-on approach to resolving their issues without proceeding to the formal administrative process and then possibly to federal court; and
- Fast – Mediation, in most cases, will allow the parties to resolve issues in a matter of days, and return to a productive working relationship.