Federal & State Regulations | Alternative Dispute Resolution - Georgia

Summary of differences between federal and state regulations

Federal law supporting alternative dispute resolution is found in the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996, 5 USC Sec. 571 – 584, and the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 USC Sec. 1 – 16. These laws provide some detail on ADR, but also leave it to various parties (government agencies, for instance) to adopt various forms of alternative dispute resolution.

In addition to the federal law, there are numerous state laws on ADR. In fact, thirty-five states have adopted the Uniform Arbitration Act as state law. Several states have also adopted the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act.

Below is a summary of Georgia’s requirements regarding ADR. Consult the regulatory links for detailed information.

Voluntary Arbitration

Under Georgia law, the state’s Commissioner of Labor is tasked with promoting the voluntary arbitration, mediation, and conciliation of disputes between employers and employees and to avoid strikes, picketing, lockouts, boycotts, blacklisting, discriminations, and legal proceedings in matters of employment.

In pursuance of this duty, the Commissioner may appoint temporary boards of arbitration, provide necessary expenses of such boards, order reasonable compensation not exceeding $15.00 per day for each member engaged in such arbitration, prescribe rules for such arbitration boards, conduct investigations and hearings, publish reports and advertisements, and do all things convenient and necessary to accomplish the purpose of this chapter.

The Commissioner may designate a mediator and may, from time to time, detail employees or persons not in the department to act as his assistants for the purpose of executing such provisions. Employees of the Department of Labor shall act on temporary boards without extra compensation.

Georgia Arbitration Code

The state also has an Arbitration Code that applies to all disputes in which the parties thereto have agreed in writing to arbitrate. It provides the exclusive means by which agreements to arbitrate disputes can be enforced.

However, this part does NOT apply to any collective bargaining agreements between employers and labor unions representing employees of such employers.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

In Georgia, there is created in each county in Georgia a board of trustees for the administration of alternative dispute resolution.

Under state law, alternative dispute resolution refers to any method other than litigation for resolution of disputes. Alternative dispute resolution methods include mediation, arbitration, early case evaluation or early neutral evaluation, summary jury trial, and minitrial.