To Conciliate or Not to Conciliate: Empirical Evidence from Labour Disputes in India

Abstract

Methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) have become increasing popular relative to court litigation for a wide variety of disputes. Among various types of ADR, the conciliation method of dispute resolution has received less attention as compared to arbitration method. Using a newly obtained from Labour Tribunal in India, the present study focus on the relevance of conciliation method in labour dispute resolution and examine the impact of mandatory and non-mandatory conciliation mechanisms on the negotiated settlement and dispute resolution time. Results obtained from this study indicate that, at an aggregate level, labour conflicts settled in the mandatory conciliation process take less time than those cases appeal in the labour courts. The study also confirms that the overall mandatory conciliation process are succeed in reducing differences in final payments received by workers and in improving their settlement rates as compared to cases proceeded to appeal. At a disaggregate level, disputes settled in the pre reform period experience reduction total disposition time.