In selected cases that are slated for referral to OSC's Investigation Division, the OSC ADR Specialist contacts the complainant and the employing agency to invite them to participate in the mediation program. If both parties agree, OSC schedules a Mediation Session. OSC mediators, who have extensive mediation training and experience in federal personnel law, conduct a mediation session at a mutually convenient time and location. If mediation results in resolution, the agreement is reduced to writing and becomes binding on both parties. There are no formal rules of evidence and no witnesses.
Mediation is a confidential process.
The mediators will not disclose any information revealed during the mediation. The sessions are not tape-recorded or transcribed. At the conclusion of the mediation, mediators destroy any notes they took during the mediation session. When parties want to get on with their business and their lives, mediation may be desirable as a means of producing rapid results. The majority of mediations are completed in one or two sessions.