Labour Mediation System

The Labour Mediation System is competent to mediate disputes within the scope of the individual employment contract, with the exception of matters relating to unavailable rights or accidents at work, covering situations such as:

• The employer wants to reduce the working hours, with repercussions on the employee's salary;
• The employee refuses to perform duties other than those contracted;
• The employer wants the employee to work elsewhere;
• The employee refuses to do overtime work requested by the employer;
• The employer refuses to provide the worker with professional training;
• The employee does not comply with the rules on Safety, Hygiene and Health at Work imposed by the company;
• The employer wants to sell the worker to another company;
• The worker carries out another activity in competition with the company;
• The employer refuses to recognise the student worker status requested by the employee;
• The employee wants to demand payment of certain allowances from the employer.

In the event of a dispute, either the employer or the employee can submit a request for mediation. However, the procedure will only take place if both are willing to participate.

How much does it cost?

Using the Labour Mediation System has a one-off cost of €50 for each party, regardless of the number of mediation sessions held.

A legal action in labour proceedings in which the employee claims the payment of compensation of €5,000 following dismissal will entail the payment of €204 as a court fee.

Under the terms of the law, this fee may not be payable when legal aid is granted to one or both parties for the purposes of access to alternative dispute resolution structures.

Advantages of the Labour Mediation System

• Security - the SML is a public service promoted by the Ministry of Justice and provided by mediators with specialised training in labour mediation;
• Confidentiality - disclosure of the content of mediation sessions is prohibited and does not count as evidence in court;
• Informality - the whole process takes place with close and simplified contact between the mediator and the parties;
• Speed - a court case in the Labour Courts takes, on average, around 9 months, while a case resolved by Labour Mediation usually takes around 3 months;
• Effectiveness - the percentage of agreements reached in Labour Mediation procedures is high;
• Promotion of economic development and job creation - due to the effectiveness and speed of labour mediation procedures.