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CPR Issues New Employment Rules and Updates Mass Claims Protocol

Mitchell L Marinello

CPR Issues New Employment Rules and Updates Mass Claims Protocol
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The International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR) has issued new employment rules for administered cases and has updated its protocol for mass employment claims.

The new employment rules directly incorporate CPR’s Due Process Protections and also include distinguishing characteristics such as providing for an administrative arbitrator to consider issues of joinder and consolidation before an arbitrator has been appointed, giving the parties new options for selecting an arbitrator, discovery provisions that balance fairness and efficiency, granting authority to the arbitrator to hold remote hearings, making emergency procedures available, generally requiring employers to pay arbitration fees with some ability for arbitrators to shift fees in appropriate cases, and confirming that arbitrators, but not necessarily the parties, are required to keep the proceedings confidential.

The mass employment claims protocol applies when 30 or more arbitrations are filed against the same respondent and arise out of the same basic facts or incidents. The protocol provides for 10–20 randomly-selected cases to be decided first (the “test cases”) and then for the parties to go to mediation, which will be informed by the anonymized awards from the test cases. Depending upon the outcome of the mediation, the parties may opt out and go back to court or proceed in arbitration. 

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