Background and Settings

Background and Settings

In 2001, prior to my military service I worked for a post office as a Distribution Clerk and Flat Sorter Machine Operator. My daily duties involved operating machinery which sorts and distributes letters or flats (magazines, over-sized envelopes). I was also responsible of reading address ZIP Codes and entering codes, using special purpose keyboards. I mostly worked long hours as I load and unload machines as well. There are days that I am required to work in the customer service department which involves interacting with people and offering assistance as required.

In my department, an employee got involved in accident and was diagnosed with a mental disorder as a result of a head injury. This head injury suffered lead him to get very agitated and angry very often. Due to this fact, his employer asked him to take a leave of absence in order to give him enough time for recovery and to prevent complicated health issues in the future. The employee did not however take the news lightly; he was not interested in taking leave for various reasons. One of the reasons is due to the fact that, he will have no other way of earning income; working at the post office was his only source of income for his household. This generated a heated debate on the issue and hence the conflict.

Part II - How it was arbitrated

A third party who was the CEO at the time was brought in to resolve the conflict. The CEO was chosen as it was believed he will be the most ideal person to resolve the issue at stake and the parties agreed to present their respective case to the CEO for arbitration. It was also made clear that, should there be unable to find a common ground to the situation, the arbitrator (CEO) can make a determination and his decision is final (Shachar, M. 2011).

The session was organized with the two parties involved, the arbitrator, and the lawyers of the two sides. This meeting was held in the conference room of the company. The parties involved each presented their case and the reason for the conflict however time was lot allotted for further discussion or to exhaust all possible evidence. The employee was not given the opportunity to strongly argue his case. The arbitration session lasted a little under 20 minutes just enough time to listen to the cause of conflict and then make an award. It appears the CEO already knew exactly the end result before even beginning the arbitration process. The arbitrator made the final decision of asking the employee to take a leave of absence. The arbitrator also concluded by asking the employee to obtain certification from medical officials as to whether he could even return to work in the future taking into consideration his current health conditions. The arbitrator’s logic for this process is to ensure he does not possess any psychological issues which could