DISADVANTAGES

• In all forms of ADR, the parties cannot be forced to engage in the process and one of them may decide not to. The process will have to be abandoned and court action may be required to resolve the dispute, which will result in further delay and costs
• If a claim is settled using one of the methods of ADR, the claimant is likely to recieve lower compensation than may be awarded by the courts
• No funding is available for claimants using ADR. This may put an unrepresented claimant at an disadvantage in arbitration or employment tribunals
• If an unexpected legal issue appears in either arbitration or an employment tribunal:

  • an unrepresented claimant might be at a disadvantage
  • a non-legally qualified arbitrator might not be able to resolve it
• Proceedings and hearings in employment tribunals have a certain formality, which may be intimidating for unrepresented claimants.
• There are limited rights of appeal for most forms of ADR:

  • in arbitration, an appeal can only be made on the grounds of serious irregularity
  • With employment tribunals, an appeal can only be made if there is a point of law involved.