Mediation in Labor Disputes: A Qualitative Study

Since people started to live collectively, many solutions have been used to resolve disputes. In modern states of law, the first preferred method is the judicial procedure of the courts. The desire to win and lose at the hands of the judiciary has increased the workload on the courts, and this has led to the inability of the courts to resolve disputes on their own. Alternative dispute resolution methods have started to be used to reduce the increasing workload of the courts. Among these methods, conciliation and mediation are widely used in the world and in Turkey. The mediation process, which first started as voluntary in our country, later expanded as a field with the application of the condition of litigation. The newness of the system requires the identification of existing situations. In this framework, the mediation process and system situations and mediation in labor disputes, which constitute the subject of the research, are important. In the first part of this study, which consists of three parts, general information about alternative dispute resolution methods and mediation is given. In the second part, the employee and employer receivables and the reemployment process included in the mediation process arising from labor law, which constitute the main subject of the study, are discussed. In the third part of the research, the situation, advantages and disadvantages related to mediation processes were determined through semi-structured interviews with expert mediators working in Ankara where the second province with the highest number of mediation files in labor disputes. The data obtained were analyzed using the MAXQDA 2020 program. Participants' views on the current mediation practice revealed that there are system gaps and deficiencies. In addition, solution suggestions were presented for the existing deficiencies. The data obtained were analyzed using the MAXQDA 2020 program. Participants' views on the current mediation practice revealed that there are system gaps and deficiencies. In addition, solution suggestions were presented for the existing deficiencies.