An investigation concludes. A report is issued. A finding is made or not made. And then, in a great many organisations, nothing further happens at all — the two people involved return to working alongside each other with no conversation, no arrangements and no plan, and everyone hopes.
What the Report Did Not Do
A report resolves an allegation. It does close to nothing for a working relationship, and both parties usually remain in the organisation regardless of outcome. Consider the state everyone is actually in. The complainant, if the complaint was not upheld, feels disbelieved and is often now the person others are wary of; if it was upheld, they may feel exposed and worry about consequences that were never articulated. The person complained of, if exonerated, frequently feels permanently marked and unable to manage or work with that individual again; if a finding was made, they have a sanction and no idea how to proceed. Colleagues took sides during the process and have not un-taken them. Managers have a team to run and no guidance beyond the report. And nobody knows what to say on the first morning back. None of that appears in the report, because none of it was within its scope — the process was designed to determine an allegation, and it determined one.
What Mediation Does Afterwards — and Does Not Touch
It addresses exactly the questions the process could not: how these people interact now, in what settings and with what arrangements; what is put behind both parties; what is communicated to the team — agreed by both, because the alternative is that everybody improvises and the corridor version becomes the official one; what happens on the next difficulty and who is told; and whether reporting lines or working arrangements need changing to make any of it viable. What it explicitly does not do is reopen, review, revisit or relitigate the findings. That is outside a mediator’s function entirely, it would undermine the process that produced them, and it needs saying clearly at the outset because participants frequently arrive hoping for exactly that. The findings are a fixed point; the conversation happens around them. What can still happen — and often matters most — is that each person gets to say what the experience was like and be heard, which is usually what was missing all the way through, and which requires neither of them to accept the other’s account of anything. The reintegration page covers the fuller picture, particularly where absence or suspension is involved.
For HR: build this in as a standard step rather than an exception. An investigation concludes; a reintegration conversation follows. Organisations that do this routinely have markedly fewer second complaints, second absences and post-process resignations than those that treat the report as the finish line.
A process concluded and two people back at their desks? 01 5827148.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & Mediator
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors (established 1981) and holder of the Law Society of Ireland Diploma in Mediation. The firm also runs a substantial employment practice, which is why the honest sorting question — whether a situation needs a mediation or an investigation — gets answered at the first call rather than halfway through. Workplace mediations are conducted on site, at neutral venues, at The Ormond Building on Ormond Quay, at the Kilkenny office — or fully online. The mediator is appointed by both sides and acts for neither. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. This website contains general information about workplace mediation and Irish law. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every workplace situation turns on its own facts, and advice on yours requires a consultation.
The mediator is not your legal adviser. Where Mary Molloy Solicitors is appointed as mediator, the mediator is neutral: the mediator acts for no party, advises no party, makes no findings and decides nothing. This is so regardless of which party is paying the fee. All participants are encouraged to take independent legal advice, and in particular to take advice before signing any agreement reached in mediation. Employees may wish to seek advice from their own solicitor or trade union. The firm does not act as mediator in any matter in which it acts, or has acted, for a party — conflicts are checked before any appointment is accepted.
Mediation is not a substitute for a required process. Some matters must be investigated rather than mediated, including allegations of serious misconduct, matters engaging health and safety duties, and protected disclosures. Nothing on this site suggests that mediation should displace an employer’s statutory obligations, a grievance or disciplinary procedure where one is required, or a complainant’s entitlement to have a complaint formally investigated or to bring proceedings.
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