Isle of Man advocate John Aycock of M&P Legal has gained accreditation as an employment and workplace mediator. This means John can mediate local workplace and employment disputes where the parties agree to find an alternative way to courts or tribunals.

John has gained the accreditation after a rigorous five day training course held in England encompassing three days of studies followed by two days of assessed mock mediations acting as a mediator. John has been practising as an employment lawyer for some twenty years and is a member of the Employment Lawyers' Association. He is ranked as a leading Isle of Man employment lawyer in the independent directories.

John explained how employment and workplace mediation can work: "Like many other western Europe economies, the litigation culture has been creeping into local business. Moreover, since the Employment Act 2006 was implemented, a raft of new employment rights have come into play and the workforce generally today has much more awareness of rights and remedies than in the past."

Litigating an internal workplace dispute can be very costly both in financial terms and loss of management time. Employment and workplace disputes are an area where mediation is particularly appropriate because in many cases the parties would like the employment relationship to continue but they just need some independent assistance in removing the points of dispute. An independent mediator fulfils this role and will attempt to assist the parties in finding their own solutions during a mediation day that will be set aside to deal with the matter once and for all. A successful mediation will end with a signed agreement as to the way forward".

John is head of the employment law unit at M&P Legal and a director of that firm. M&P Legal is ranked as one of the leading employment law practices in the Isle of Man in both the Chambers UK and Legal 500 independent directories.

Back to top