Industrial Relations Negotiation and Arbitration Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Employee Relations Managers, HR Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LR-025

Before you join: Participants should have practical familiarity with employment relationships, workplace policies and common employee relations issues such as grievances, discipline, pay or working-time concerns.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Industrial relations disputes can disrupt operations, damage trust and create costly legal exposure when managers, union representatives or employee representatives enter negotiations without clear mandates, evidence or settlement options. Pay claims, working-time changes, restructuring, discipline, recognition disputes and collective grievances require parties to balance legitimate interests while preserving a workable employment relationship. Where negotiation fails, the quality of case preparation and hearing conduct can materially affect arbitration outcomes.

This course develops practical skills for planning, conducting and documenting collective negotiations and preparing employment disputes for arbitration. Participants examine bargaining structures, union recognition, good-faith bargaining, interest-based negotiation, distributive bargaining, mandate setting, proposal drafting, deadlock management and settlement design. They learn to assess a dispute, distinguish positions from interests, build a bargaining brief, use objective criteria, manage caucuses and record agreements accurately. The course also covers arbitration clauses, case theory, evidence, witness preparation, hearing procedure, remedies and post-award implementation.

Instruction combines focused briefings with labour-relations cases, group analysis, bargaining simulations and arbitration hearing preparation. Cases reflect issues commonly faced by public bodies, banks, manufacturers, utilities, NGOs and multinational employers, while allowing trainers to address the legal framework relevant to the cohort. Participants leave with a reusable industrial relations negotiation and arbitration toolkit containing preparation templates, a bargaining strategy model, a dispute assessment checklist and an arbitration case-planning pack.

The course is suited to professionals who already work with employee relations matters and need a disciplined method for handling collective disputes. It is particularly valuable for HR practitioners, employee relations teams, line managers, union officials and legal advisers involved in negotiations or hearings.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess collective disputes using an issue, interest, risk and remedy analysis
  • Prepare a bargaining mandate, evidence pack and concession strategy
  • Apply BATNA, WATNA and objective criteria during collective negotiations
  • Conduct interest-based and distributive bargaining discussions with employee representatives
  • Draft clear collective agreement clauses, settlement terms and meeting records
  • Manage bargaining deadlock through caucuses, mediation options and escalation protocols
  • Build an arbitration case theory supported by relevant evidence and witnesses
  • Plan arbitration hearings, submissions, remedies and post-award implementation actions

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Conducts collective negotiations with clearer mandates, options and concession limits
  • Handles difficult union discussions without escalating avoidable conflict
  • Produces stronger bargaining briefs and accurate settlement records
  • Prepares arbitration cases with a defensible evidence and witness plan
  • Builds credibility as a reliable employee relations adviser

For your organisation

  • Reduces disruption from poorly managed collective disputes and bargaining deadlocks
  • Improves consistency in negotiation mandates, records and agreement implementation
  • Strengthens management preparation for grievances, consultations and arbitration hearings
  • Limits avoidable legal cost through earlier settlement assessment and documentation
  • Supports more constructive relationships with unions and employee representatives

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can map the parties, rules and dispute routes affecting a collective employment issue.

  • Actors, institutions and bargaining levels shaping workplace representation and disputes
  • Freedom of association principles under ILO Conventions 87 and 98
  • Recognition, consultation and collective bargaining rights within employment relations systems
  • Collective agreements, workplace policies and custom as governing employment instruments
  • Rights disputes versus interest disputes and their appropriate resolution routes
  • Issue mapping for pay, working time, restructuring and disciplinary disputes

Participants can diagnose a collective dispute and prepare an evidence-based bargaining mandate.

  • Dispute diagnosis using issues, interests, evidence, risks and desired outcomes
  • Fact-finding plans built from agreements, payroll data, policies and correspondence
  • Mandate boundaries, approval authorities and escalation thresholds defined before bargaining
  • Stakeholder analysis covering union officers, managers, employees and external parties
  • Costing pay proposals, allowances, overtime changes and benefit alternatives
  • Risk registers covering operational, legal, financial and relationship consequences

Participants can select negotiation strategies based on interests, power and available alternatives.

  • BATNA and WATNA analysis for management and employee representative positions
  • Interest-based bargaining separating underlying needs from stated demands
  • Distributive bargaining tactics for fixed-value pay and benefit disputes
  • Objective criteria drawn from market data, productivity and comparable agreements
  • Power analysis covering legitimacy, information, organisation, timing and alternatives
  • Negotiation strategy matrices matching issues to collaborative or competitive approaches

Participants can conduct structured bargaining meetings that maintain process control and working relationships.

  • Opening statements that confirm purpose, authority, agenda and meeting rules
  • Agenda design sequencing low-conflict issues before contested economic proposals
  • Questioning techniques that test assumptions, evidence and underlying interests
  • Active listening, reframing and summarising used to reduce positional language
  • Caucus management for mandate checks, option development and emotional reset
  • Proposal exchanges recorded through issue logs, drafts and conditional offers

Participants can formulate proposals, manage concessions and draft workable collective agreement terms.

  • Package bargaining linking pay, flexibility, benefits and implementation commitments
  • Concession planning using trading variables, reservation points and reciprocity rules
  • Conditional offers framed with clear triggers, deadlines and withdrawal provisions
  • Drafting recognition, scope, grievance and consultation clauses without ambiguity
  • Pay and working-time clauses tested against payroll and rostering implications
  • Settlement records distinguishing agreed terms, unresolved issues and follow-up actions

Participants can identify deadlock early and select proportionate settlement or escalation options.

  • Deadlock indicators including repeated positions, missed mandates and procedural breakdown
  • Impasse-breaking options generated through contingent agreements and package redesign
  • Mediation roles, confidentiality boundaries and mediator selection criteria
  • Conciliation procedures and referral requirements under applicable labour relations rules
  • Industrial action risk assessment covering notice, continuity and communications planning
  • Escalation protocols documenting decision authorities, time limits and referral steps

Participants can assess whether arbitration is appropriate and define a coherent case theory.

  • Arbitration clauses defining scope, appointment method, rules and finality
  • Jurisdiction objections based on party status, subject matter and procedure
  • Case theory connecting facts, agreement terms, legal principles and remedy
  • Merits assessment using strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis
  • Remedy analysis covering reinstatement, compensation, declarations and specific performance
  • Settlement assessment comparing arbitration risk, cost, timing and business impact

Participants can prepare a persuasive arbitration file with organised evidence and witnesses.

  • Document preservation steps for emails, attendance records, policies and meeting notes
  • Evidence relevance assessed against disputed facts, agreement language and remedy
  • Hearing bundles indexed, paginated and cross-referenced to witness statements
  • Witness selection based on knowledge, credibility, availability and evidential necessity
  • Witness preparation covering chronology, documents, questioning and conduct expectations
  • Chronologies and agreed facts narrowing issues before the arbitration hearing

Participants can plan hearing conduct and present submissions focused on the tribunal's decision requirements.

  • Opening submissions presenting issues, theory, evidence and requested remedies
  • Examination-in-chief structured around disputed facts and supporting documents
  • Cross-examination questions testing reliability, consistency, motive and missing evidence
  • Objections and procedural requests raised respectfully under hearing rules
  • Closing submissions linking findings sought to agreement terms and remedies
  • Award review identifying obligations, deadlines, costs and implementation responsibilities

Participants can implement agreements or awards while improving future labour relations processes.

  • Implementation plans assigning owners, milestones, communications and verification measures
  • Joint communications explaining agreed changes without reopening settled bargaining issues
  • Compliance monitoring against collective agreement terms, awards and local procedures
  • Post-dispute reviews identifying process failures, relationship damage and corrective actions
  • Labour-management forum agendas supporting early issue identification and consultation
  • Personal application plans prioritising upcoming negotiations, disputes and stakeholder actions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Collective bargaining preparation template
  2. Negotiation mandate and concession planner
  3. Interest, power and alternatives analysis model
  4. Collective agreement clause checklist
  5. Arbitration case theory and evidence pack
  6. Post-award implementation plan

Who should attend

  • Employee Relations Managers — responsible for collective bargaining and workplace dispute resolution
  • HR Managers — need structured methods for union and employee representative engagement
  • Labour Relations Specialists — prepare negotiations, agreements and arbitration case materials
  • Line Managers — participate in consultations and implement negotiated workplace changes
  • Trade Union Officials — represent members effectively during bargaining and arbitration
  • Employment Lawyers — support case preparation, hearings and settlement documentation

Skills and tools covered

Collective bargainingDispute diagnosisSettlement draftingArbitration preparationEvidence assessmentUnion engagement

Tools and standards

BATNA and WATNA analysis, Interest-based bargaining, ILO Conventions 87 and 98, SWOT analysis

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce bargaining and arbitration methods, followed by sector-relevant case analysis, small-group preparation and structured simulations. Participants analyse bargaining facts, set mandates, formulate proposals, test settlement options and prepare hearing materials. Negotiation simulations include caucuses, concessions, impasse and agreement recording. Arbitration work focuses on case theory, documents, witnesses and remedies. Facilitated feedback links each activity to participants' workplace issues, ending with an individual application plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical familiarity with employment relationships, workplace policies and common employee relations issues such as grievances, discipline, pay or working-time concerns. Experience attending management-union meetings, consultation forums or internal dispute meetings is useful, but formal negotiation training is not required. Participants should understand the basic distinction between individual and collective employment matters. No law degree, arbitration advocacy experience or prior union role is required. The course does not provide jurisdiction-specific legal advice; participants should bring their organisation's applicable laws, agreements and procedures where available.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic workplace policies and employee relations processes. Previous involvement in union meetings or grievances is helpful, but no formal negotiation or arbitration training is required.

Bring a current or recent collective dispute, negotiation issue or agreement clause that can be considered without disclosing confidential information. Relevant workplace policies, collective agreements and local procedures are also useful.

The course is designed for HR and employee relations professionals, line managers, union officials and employment advisers. It is most useful for people who prepare for or attend collective negotiations, consultations or arbitration hearings.

General negotiation courses focus on commercial or interpersonal deals. This course addresses collective bargaining structures, union relationships, collective agreements, labour disputes, hearing preparation and employment remedies.

Participants can use the templates to prepare bargaining mandates, assess disputes, structure meetings and organise arbitration files. The methods can be applied to pay claims, working-time changes, grievances, recognition matters and restructuring consultations.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30, providing about 6.5 contact hours. The programme moves from industrial relations foundations and bargaining preparation through negotiation conduct, deadlock management, arbitration and implementation planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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