- Establish a policy for alternative dispute resolution, including procedures and responsible individuals.
- Emphasize that retaliation against employees who pursue their legal rights is prohibited.
- Provide for and carry out disciplinary action against those who retaliate.
- Consider all program options:
- Employee hotline
- Ombudsman program
- Peer review panel program
- Senior management review program
- Mediation program
- Arbitration program
- Ensure that third-party facilitators (e.g., mediators) and decision makers (e.g., arbitrators) are well trained.
- Ensure that in any program the procedures are fair.
Many of the recommendations here are drawn from the EEOC Commission Task Force Report entitled Best Practices for Public Sector Employers. This report presents a broad overview of the practices through which corporate America has been addressing its obligations to equal employment opportunity and workplace diversity. Although this report was issued in 1997, many of the insights it contains are still applicable today.