Workplace Mediation — Dublin

Dignity at work, reporting lines, team conflict and reintegration — on site, at a neutral venue, or fully online.

Dublin holds the largest concentration of employers in the State — multinationals, professional services, technology and financial services, hospitals and universities, the public service, and a very large number of small and medium employers with no HR function at all. The firm’s Dublin office is at The Ormond Building on Ormond Quay Upper, which works well as neutral ground for a process that should rarely happen in the workplace itself.

Why the Venue Question Matters More Than People Think

Employers routinely assume a workplace mediation should happen at the workplace, and it is usually the wrong instinct. Mediating in the building where the conflict lives means people are seen going into a room, the meeting is on somebody’s calendar, colleagues draw conclusions before lunchtime, and both participants arrive already managing an audience — which is precisely the state in which nobody says anything useful. Neutral ground removes all of that. The Ormond Building is city-centre, reachable on foot from much of Dublin 1, 2 and 7 and straightforward by Luas or bus from the rest, with enough separate rooms for the individual sessions that do most of the work in a workplace matter. It also matters for a particular category: an employee on certified sick leave or on suspension frequently should not be asked to attend their own office at all, and offering a neutral venue or an online session removes an obstacle that would otherwise stall the whole process.

The Situations Dublin Employers Bring

The recurring ones: a reporting line that has broken down and is now producing absence; a dignity at work complaint where the employer is unsure whether to investigate or attempt informal resolution first; team or interdepartmental conflict after a restructure, a merger or a change in working patterns; conflict among senior people where a formal process would be publicly destabilising; a return to work after long absence or after an investigation has concluded; and professional practices where the partners are the people in conflict and there is no HR function with standing over them. Two Dublin-specific patterns are worth naming. Large employers with well-resourced HR functions frequently have excellent formal procedures and nothing at all in the informal space, so situations escalate straight from nothing to investigation. And smaller employers — a great many in the city — have no HR function, no policy that says anything useful, and a director trying to handle a bullying complaint with no idea whether it needs investigating. That sorting question is answered at the first call, before anyone commits to anything.

Two Free Tools Before You Call

Mediate or Investigate? walks the four sorting questions that decide which process a situation actually needs — including where the answer is neither. The Escalation Stage Check shows what remains open at the point you have reached. Both run entirely on your device; nothing is stored.

Ten Lines, and Everyone Involved by Name

The conflicts check runs before anything else, so name the individuals and the employer entity first. Then the situation in ten lines, where it stands procedurally, and what a workable outcome would look like.

Call 01 5827148

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Workplace Mediation in Dublin - FAQs

Usually at The Ormond Building, 31–36 Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin 7 — neutral city-centre ground with separate rooms for the individual sessions. Mediations are also held at other neutral venues, on site where that genuinely suits, and fully online. Mediating in the participants’ own workplace is generally discouraged: people are seen going into rooms, the whole floor knows by lunchtime, and both participants arrive managing an audience.

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.

Fees. Fees for mediation are agreed in writing before the mediation begins, and fees for legal services are agreed in writing with the client at the outset. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.

Tax. Nothing on this website is tax advice. Where any payment or arrangement has tax consequences, those questions belong with your accountant or tax adviser and with Revenue’s own guidance, and are best addressed before anything is signed.