Section 69: Conciliation and mediation

69. Conciliation and mediation (1) Where a labour dispute is reported to the President of the Commission under section 64, and— (a) the report has not been rejected under section 65; or (b) the report is rejected and the rejection is revoked on an appeal to the Tribunal under section 66, the Commission may, with a view to promoting a settlement of the dispute— (i) make proposals to the parties for the settlement of the dispute; (ii) conciliate the parties; (iii) mediate and make recommendations to the parties; or E9A – 39 [Issue 9] (cid:3) Employment Relations Act (cid:3) (iv) make such investigation as it thinks fit. (2) Where an agreement is reached following conciliation or mediation under subsection (1), the agreement shall— (a) be recorded in writing; (b) be signed by the parties; (c) be registered with the supervising officer of the Ministry and the Tribunal; and (d) have the effect of a collective agreement as specified in sections 55 and 56. (3) The Commission shall, within 30 days of the date of receipt of the labour dispute under section 64, complete its proceedings. (4) Where the circumstances so require, the Commission may, at the request of the parties to the labour dispute, extend the period specified in subsection (3). (5) Where no agreement is reached after 30 days of the date of the receipt of the labour dispute under section 64 or after the expiry of such extended period as may be agreed under subsection (4), the Commission shall— (a) within 7 days, submit a report to that effect to the parties to the dispute; and (b) advise the parties to refer the labour dispute for voluntary arbitration under section 63. (Subsec. (5) (a) not in operation.) (6) Subject to subsection (7) and sections 76 to 79, where the parties decline to refer the labour dispute for voluntary arbitration, the party having reported the labour dispute may, within 45 days of the submission of the report by the President of the Commission under subsection (5) (a), have recourse to strike or lockout, as the case may be. (7) Where no agreement is reached in the case of a labour dispute reported by an individual worker, the Commission may, within 7 days, with the consent of the worker, refer the labour dispute to the Tribunal for arbitration. [S. 69 amended by s. 23 of Act 5 of 2013 w.e.f. 11 June 2013.]