Alternative Dispute Resolution and workplace conflict: a British-Nigerian Comparison

随着工会代表的不断减少，以及引入法律激励措施，鼓励工人在不诉诸法院的情况下解决个人就业纠纷/冲突，ADR在英国劳资关系领域日益突出（CIPD, 2021）。这一变化最重要的标志和动力是（Acas， 2021年）向所有希望在就业法庭提出索赔的工人提供的调解服务。虽然ADR在英国被鼓励作为降低与就业法庭索赔相关的诉讼成本的手段，但在英国，将ADR作为解决工作场所纠纷的手段的学术研究相对较少（Acas， 2021年）。在尼日利亚，由于大多数组织缺乏敏感性（Umegbolu, 2021），与英国相比，这已成为一个新兴的研究领域。英国工人已被授权在向就业法庭索赔之前向ACAS提出争议（Araujo等人，2020）。然而，当涉及到尼日利亚工人时，这需要进一步的工作。一个新的研究领域将是对尼日利亚和英国工作场所纠纷调解的比较分析，重点是调解的作用。这将需要对两国现有的灰色文献进行文献分析，并采访两国合格的调解员、调解员、董事和（律师），可能还包括公共部门组织的工会。它将对这两个司法管辖区的知识作出原创性贡献，特别是在ADR使用率较低的尼日利亚。必须指出的是，商业创新和法律是在英国法律（Burns 1978）之后形成的。例如，拉各斯是第一个在2004年根据伍尔夫勋爵的改革引入民事诉讼新规则的城市（Umegbolu2021）。因此，本研究中规定的任何政策和建议都将在尼日利亚得到接受和执行。

With the continuous decline of union representation and the introduction of legal incentives for workers to resolve individual employment disputes/conflicts without resorting to the courts, ADR is gaining increasing prominence in the British landscape of industrial relations (CIPD, 2021). The most important sign and motor of this change have been the conciliation service offered by (Acas, 2021) to all workers wishing to lodge a claim in Employment Tribunals. Whilst the ADR has been encouraged in the U.K. as means to reduce litigation costs in relation to employment tribunal claims, there have been relatively few scholarly research on ADR as a means to settle workplace disputes in the U.K. (Acas, 2021). In Nigeria, due to lack of sensitisation in most organisations (Umegbolu, 2021), this has become an emergent field of study compared to the U.K. British workers have been mandated to lodge their dispute with ACAS before proceeding to an employment tribunal claim (Araujo et al., 2020). However, when it comes to Nigerian workers, this needs further work. A new field of study would be a comparative analysis of mediation in workplace disputes in Nigeria and the U.K., focusing on the role of mediation. It would entail a documentary analysis of existing grey literature in both countries and interviews with qualified mediators, conciliators, directors and (lawyers) in both countries and potentially trade unions in public sector organisations. It will make an original contribution to knowledge in both jurisdictions, particularly in Nigeria, where there is low patronage of ADR. It is imperative to point out that business innovations and laws are shaped after U.K. law (Burns 1978). For instance, Lagos was the first to introduce the new rules of civil procedure in 2004 based on Lord Woolf's reform (Umegbolu2021). Hence any policy and recommendation stipulated in this research would be embraced and implemented in Nigeria.