Workplace Dispute Resolution Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends HR Managers, Employee Relations Specialists 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-032

Before you join: Participants should have practical exposure to HR policies, line management, employee relations, employment law support or workplace case handling.

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

Workplace disputes can quickly move from a difficult conversation to a formal grievance, disciplinary case, collective dispute, tribunal claim or industrial action. HR and line managers must address concerns promptly while protecting procedural fairness, employee rights, confidentiality and working relationships. Poorly handled cases create legal exposure, inconsistent decisions, absenteeism, damaged trust and avoidable management time.

This Workplace Dispute Resolution Training Course develops the practical judgement and process discipline required to resolve disputes under labour law principles. Participants learn to distinguish rights-based, interest-based and relationship-based disputes; assess jurisdiction, evidence and risk; run fair grievance and disciplinary procedures; prepare for mediation and conciliation; and manage collective disputes with employee representatives or unions. The course also covers investigation planning, hearing management, settlement options, documentation standards and post-case follow-through.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with realistic case work, facilitated discussions, role-based simulations and peer review of written case materials. Scenarios reflect disputes commonly faced in banks, public bodies, NGOs, multinational employers and large corporate operations, including harassment complaints, performance disputes, union grievances and contested dismissals. Participants leave with a practical workplace dispute-resolution toolkit containing process maps, templates, checklists and a personal application plan for improving case handling in their own organisation.

The course is suited to HR practitioners, employee relations specialists, line managers, legal advisers and union-facing leaders who already handle people issues and need a more structured approach to resolving conflict fairly before it escalates.

What you will be able to do

  • Classify workplace disputes using rights, interests and relationship analysis
  • Assess labour-law, policy and procedural risks before selecting a resolution route
  • Plan fair workplace investigations using allegation, evidence and witness matrices
  • Conduct grievance and disciplinary meetings using procedural fairness principles
  • Prepare mediation cases using issue framing, BATNA and settlement-option analysis
  • Manage collective disputes through representative engagement and interest-based bargaining
  • Draft defensible case records, outcome letters and settlement documentation
  • Implement a dispute-prevention action plan using trend and root-cause analysis

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Handle difficult employee complaints with clearer process choices and documented reasoning
  • Lead grievance and disciplinary meetings with greater confidence and procedural discipline
  • Recognise when informal resolution, mediation, investigation or formal action is appropriate
  • Prepare stronger case files for internal review, legal advice or external proceedings
  • Build credibility as a fair and constructive adviser during contentious workplace matters

For your organisation

  • Reduce escalation through earlier, better-structured resolution of workplace conflict
  • Improve consistency across grievance, disciplinary and collective dispute decisions
  • Lower exposure to procedural unfairness, retaliation claims and poorly documented outcomes
  • Preserve employee relations through credible engagement with staff representatives
  • Produce case data that identifies recurring causes and policy-control weaknesses

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can classify workplace disputes and select an appropriate early resolution route.

  • Sources of workplace conflict: rights, interests, relationships and organisational systems
  • Distinguishing individual grievances, collective disputes, misconduct and performance concerns
  • Conflict escalation ladder identifies early-intervention decision points and response options
  • Workplace dispute map linking parties, issues, evidence and procedural routes
  • Psychological safety, power imbalance and retaliation risk in complaint handling
  • Thomas-Kilmann modes used to select constructive response behaviours
  • Manager responsibilities, HR boundaries and representative roles during disputes

Participants can assess legal and procedural considerations before initiating formal action.

  • Employment contract, workplace policy, collective agreement and statutory rights hierarchy
  • Procedural fairness: notice, impartiality, hearing, representation and reasoned outcomes
  • Substantive fairness assessed against conduct, capability, evidence and proportionality
  • Protected characteristics and discrimination risks within dispute-management decisions
  • Retaliation safeguards following complaints, whistleblowing reports and representative activity
  • Time limits, record retention and escalation triggers requiring specialist legal advice
  • Local jurisdiction checks before applying course principles to live cases

Participants can plan and conduct early interventions that address conflict without prejudging outcomes.

  • Triage questions separate urgent safeguarding issues from ordinary workplace conflict
  • Interest-Based Relational Approach frames people separately from the problem
  • Structured listening uses open questions, paraphrasing, summarising and reality testing
  • Shuttle conversations test options while preserving confidentiality and impartiality
  • Without-prejudice discussions distinguished from ordinary informal resolution conversations
  • Agreed behaviour expectations documented through practical working agreements
  • Escalation criteria identify when informal intervention should stop immediately

Participants can manage a grievance from receipt through hearing, decision and appeal.

  • Grievance intake captures allegations, requested remedies, parties and immediate risks
  • Acknowledgement letters set process, confidentiality limits and anti-retaliation expectations
  • Scope statements define allegations, exclusions, decision authority and timetable
  • Selecting an impartial manager and managing actual or perceived conflicts
  • Grievance hearings structured around allegations, evidence, questions and representations
  • Reasoned outcome letters address findings, actions, remedies and appeal rights
  • Appeal review distinguishes procedural defects, new evidence and outcome challenges

Participants can plan proportionate investigations and evaluate evidence fairly.

  • Investigation plan defines allegations, scope, evidence sources and reporting deadlines
  • Allegation-evidence matrix links each claim to relevant corroborating material
  • Witness selection considers direct knowledge, credibility, vulnerability and confidentiality
  • Interview plans use chronological questioning, probing and confirmation techniques
  • Contemporaneous notes distinguish facts, observations, inferences and unsupported assertions
  • Balance of probabilities applied to workplace findings and evidential gaps
  • Investigation reports separate factual findings from disciplinary recommendations

Participants can run fair formal meetings and determine proportionate workplace outcomes.

  • Misconduct, gross misconduct, capability and conduct expectations distinguished clearly
  • Suspension assessed as a neutral precaution rather than automatic punishment
  • Disciplinary notice specifies allegations, possible outcomes, evidence and representation rights
  • Hearing chairs test evidence, mitigation, consistency and proportionality
  • Progressive discipline considers warnings, support, improvement periods and review dates
  • Harassment and bullying cases require trauma-informed, impartial process management
  • Outcome rationales record policy basis, evidence weighting and mitigating factors

Participants can prepare parties for mediation, conciliation or negotiated settlement discussions.

  • Mediation suitability screening addresses voluntariness, safety, power and timing
  • BATNA analysis clarifies alternatives, bargaining limits and realistic settlement options
  • Issue framing converts positional demands into discussable underlying interests
  • Mediator opening statements establish confidentiality, conduct rules and decision authority
  • Caucus use tests proposals, clarifies risks and manages emotional impasse
  • Settlement terms cover obligations, dates, confidentiality, releases and non-retaliation
  • Conciliation referrals require accurate case summaries, authority and documentation

Participants can manage collective disputes through structured representative engagement and bargaining.

  • Collective dispute triggers include pay, working time, restructuring and policy changes
  • Recognition agreements define representation rights, consultation duties and escalation channels
  • Interest-based bargaining separates stated demands from underlying operational concerns
  • Bargaining preparation uses mandate limits, issue logs and concession planning
  • Joint problem-solving meetings record proposals, agreements, disagreements and next steps
  • Industrial action contingency planning addresses service continuity and lawful communications
  • Post-dispute communication explains agreements without undermining representative relationships

Participants can produce defensible case records while protecting privacy and confidentiality.

  • Case chronology records events, decisions, evidence receipts and communication dates
  • Document control applies versioning, access permissions and retention requirements
  • Need-to-know confidentiality balanced against fair disclosure and representation rights
  • Data minimisation limits collection to information necessary for stated case purposes
  • Decision records show jurisdiction, evidence assessment, rationale and authorised sign-off
  • Case handovers preserve continuity when managers, investigators or advisers change
  • Quality assurance reviews identify missed steps before outcome communications issue

Participants can convert dispute data and case lessons into targeted prevention actions.

  • Dispute trend analysis segments cases by issue, location, manager and outcome
  • Fishbone analysis identifies policy, workload, leadership and communication root causes
  • Repeat-case indicators reveal hotspots requiring targeted management intervention
  • Policy gap reviews test clarity, accessibility, ownership and procedural alignment
  • Manager briefing plans reinforce early intervention, documentation and escalation responsibilities
  • Resolution metrics track timeliness, recurrence, appeal outcomes and settlement patterns
  • Personal application plan prioritises three improvements for current casework

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

What you take back to work

  1. Workplace dispute triage decision tree
  2. Grievance and disciplinary case-management checklist
  3. Investigation plan and allegation-evidence matrix
  4. Mediation preparation and BATNA worksheet
  5. Collective dispute bargaining preparation template
  6. Dispute trend analysis and prevention action plan

Who should attend

  • HR Managers — responsible for fair, timely resolution of employee disputes
  • Employee Relations Specialists — managing grievance, disciplinary and collective casework
  • HR Business Partners — advising managers through sensitive people conflicts
  • Line Managers — conducting early interventions and formal case meetings
  • In-house Legal Advisers — supporting employment-risk assessment and case strategy
  • Union and Employee Relations Managers — engaging representatives during contested workplace issues

Skills and tools covered

Grievance case managementWorkplace investigationsMediation preparationCollective dispute handlingProcedural fairnessSettlement documentation

Tools and standards

Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, Interest-Based Relational Approach, BATNA analysis, Fishbone diagram

How the course runs

Training methodology

The instructor uses short briefings to establish labour-relations principles, followed by case analysis, group exercises and structured simulations. Participants assess fact patterns, select resolution routes, prepare investigation and mediation materials, conduct meetings and critique written outcomes against fairness criteria. Cases include individual grievances, alleged misconduct, harassment complaints, performance conflicts and collective disputes. Facilitated debriefs connect each method to participants' policies, representative arrangements and local legal context. The final application planning session converts course learning into specific improvements for live workplace case handling.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical exposure to HR policies, line management, employee relations, employment law support or workplace case handling. They should understand the usual purpose of grievance, disciplinary, performance and conduct procedures, even if they have not led a formal case. Familiarity with their organisation's employee handbook or collective agreement is useful. No legal qualification, mediation accreditation, union role or prior tribunal experience is required. The course explains legal principles in a practical workplace context; participants must confirm local legal requirements with qualified advisers where necessary.

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

You should understand basic HR processes or have experience managing employees, employee relations or workplace cases. A law degree, mediation credential or prior tribunal experience is not required.

Bring your organisation's grievance, disciplinary, investigation and collective-relations policies if you can share them appropriately. You may also bring anonymised case questions for use during application planning.

The course is designed for HR and employee relations practitioners, people managers, in-house legal advisers and managers who work with unions or employee representatives. It is most useful for professionals who already encounter workplace conflict and formal people processes.

General mediation training focuses primarily on mediator skills, while employment law courses often concentrate on legal rules and case law. This course connects legal and procedural principles to the full employer-side process: triage, investigation, hearings, resolution, documentation and prevention.

Participants can use the triage decision tree, investigation matrix, hearing checklist and case-record templates on current matters. The course also helps participants identify when specialist legal advice, external mediation or formal conciliation is required.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided among instructor briefings, case analysis, group work, simulations, written case materials and application planning across the ten modules.

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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