Section 19O

the Tribunal may encourage parties to a claim to enter into a mediation process before a hearing, by having an informal preliminary conference with the parties either separately or jointly;

the parties shall be informed that the mediation shall be on a “without prejudice”

basis and the parties shall decide on the issues and reach their own settlement;

a Tribunal member who acts as a mediator shall assist the parties at building a consensus and agreement voluntarily, as to reach a mutual settlement;

a mediator shall not act as a judge as to how the parties should resolve their dispute or give advice or make recommendation, and shall maintain neutrality throughout the mediation process;

a mediation process may be conducted separately or jointly and it is encouraged to have a joint session –

to assist in identifying what caused the misunderstanding as to cause the dispute by asking the right questions and clarifying issues to draw the real underlying problem;

upon the misunderstanding and underlying problem being identified, the mediator shall inform each party of the other party’s needs, point of views, concerns or problems;

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upon a consensus being reached, the mediator may assist the parties to clearly summarize the agreement in writing or may prepare a summary of the agreement for both parties signature and the Tribunal shall then record the terms of the agreement as an award;

any outstanding issue which has not been agreed upon during mediation, may be brought for hearing before the Tribunal;

a Tribunal who acts as a mediator may continue to sit and hear the claim;

for the purpose of mediation, no evidence shall be recorded by the Tribunal and any matter raised during the mediation shall not be used against the parties in the proceedings of the claim;

a mediator or any party may terminate the mediation at any time after discussion and the Tribunal may proceed to hear the claim.

Limitation of jurisdiction.