CPCCBC4024A: Business Dispute Resolution Report - CPC40110

This report examines the crucial aspects of resolving business disputes within a construction company context, specifically focusing on CPCCBC4024A. It begins by highlighting the absence of a documented dispute resolution procedure at Sullivon Constructions and emphasizes the potential risks associated with this gap. The report then outlines a comprehensive dispute resolution procedure, including steps for mediation, fact-finding, negotiation, and arbitration. It delves into relevant statutory laws, particularly sections of the Fair Work Act 2009, and explains how these laws impact dispute resolution. The report also details the steps involved in both informal and formal dispute resolution processes, including reporting and recording procedures, emphasizing the importance of confidentiality and the role of external conciliators. Finally, it provides an email draft to the manager to highlight the issues and propose a solution.

Running Head: CPCCBC4024A RESOLVE BUSINESS DISPUTES 1
CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes
[Student name: first name, middle initial(s), last name]
Open Colleges
CPC40110 - Certificate IV in Building and Construction (Building)
[Professor’s Name]
[Date]

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 2
Abstract
Workplace disputes can occur in any circumstance or situation where different parties are
engaged. Organizations are mandated with the task of creating, documenting and making
available, an appropriate dispute resolution procedure for their employees. This paper delves
into the dispute resolution procedure of the construction company. Statutory laws governing
the resolution procedure have also been highlighted and case scenarios of resolving a
workplace dispute also issued. The process of dispute resolution is aimed at resolving
workplace disputes without the engagement of legal authorities like courts. The process
should be minimalistic, focusing on achieving the main objective of running a company.

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 3
Introduction
The resolution of workplace disputes over the past five years has encountered changes,
mostly attributed to the enactment of legislation known as the Fair Work Act (MacDermott &
Riley, 2011). Disputants are increasingly advised to seek alternative dispute resolution
methods that will not engage any legal authorities and processes. Companies, on the other
hand, are advised to keep a readily accessible and publicized dispute resolution procedure
documents for use by any disputing parties. This paper looks into a dispute resolution
procedure of Sullivon Constructions.

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 4
Part A: Development and Implementation of Dispute Resolution Procedures
Keen observation and review of the existing procedure documents and policies on the
Sullivon Constructions website reveal that the company does not have a document for
handling business disputes. As such, the company is at risk of having to deal with unresolved
disputes going to court, which can result in hefty penalties and fines, wastage of time and
possible damage of its reputation (Forsyth,2012).
The process of developing a workplace dispute resolution procedure should, therefore, be
given a top priority by Sullivon Constructions.
Sullivon Constructions Dispute Resolution Procedure
Any workplace can experience disputes between two or more employees have a disagreement
about a particular issue without arriving at an ultimate resolution. An unbiased and balanced
procedure of resolving disputes is crucial for effective business operation.
There are various types of disputes that can occur at a construction site. As highlighted by
Donald Charrett, the Australian construction industry has a wide collection of matters that
can potentially resort to disputes (Charrett, 2020). One of the possible disputes that require the
implementation of the dispute resolution procedure includes quality of work done by a
contractor not meeting the satisfaction level of the client, resulting in the latter not keeping
their end of the bargain as far as settling the contractor's fee is concerned. The arising dispute
is that the contractor demands settlement of the fee while the client claims the quality of work
provided does not meet their satisfaction level or expectation.
Sullivon Constructions can find itself in such a dispute and can adopt the following process in
achieving resolution:

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 5
1. Purpose and scope
In most organizations, disputes can be resolved without the engagement of external
parties, especially when there is a well-documented and publicized procedural document.
In that context, the dispute resolution procedure document plays the role of setting out the
clear phases to be adhered to while resolving a dispute or grievance to ensure that both
parties get a timely and fair response (Spenser & Hardy, 2014).
As highlighted by the Government of Western Australia, Department of Mines, Industry
Regulation and Safety on its website regarding dispute resolution procedures (Dispute
resolution procedures, 2019), the process needs to be simple and fair to prevent sorting
out for other measures that can further complicate the entire procedure.
In Sullivan's case, the company can effectively handle disputes by the adoption and
implementation of a well-documented and publicized dispute resolution procedure.
Disputants can mediate between themselves to try and resolve the grievance through the
following steps:
a) Gathering facts about the dispute – both parties should fully understand the grievance
between them to make well-informed decisions and determine the most appropriate
manner of resolving the dispute. Where necessary, applicable laws and regulations should
be sort and applied.
b) Discussing problems arising and negotiating a solution – the parties should then discuss
grievances presented by the other party in detail. Discussing the issues with an agenda of
trying to resolve the conflict is a more suitable way as it can help prevent escalating the
matter to legal authorities that might be costly.
c) Informing the other party about issues – during the process, each party should inform the
other about the progress and issues arising through written letters. Reminder notices
should follow where the delayed response is encountered. If either party fails to give a

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 6
response or result, a letter of demand can be issued.
d) Arbitration – The process of resolving a dispute between two parties can be much
smoother when a third party is engaged (Lodder & Zeleznikow, 2010).
e) Seeking legal intervention – taking the dispute to court should be the last resort if either
party is not satisfied with the result of the arbitration. However, both parties should be
made aware of how costly it can get if they choose to take the matter to court. In such a
case, both should seek proper legal advice before taking this step.
2. Statutory Laws
For some time, several State Acts of Parliament and federal acts have shown confidence in
the use of mediation to resolve conflicts at the workplace (Van, 2006). In his book,
Managing workplace conflict: Alternative dispute resolution in Australia (Gramberg, 2006)
points out that Racial Discrimination Act 1975; the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission Act 1986; the Sex Discrimination Act 1986; and Disability Discrimination Act
1992 form examples of statutory laws that have been used in resolution of disputes
involving federal legislation.
The key statutory laws that impact directly on how workplace disputes must be resolved in
Australia include Section 186 and Section 739, 740 of the Fair Work Act 2009.
A) Section 186 of the Fair Work Act 2009
After the Labour Government election in 2007, the Fair Work Act 2009 was put into
place to replace the Work Choices legislation (Creighton, 2011). The Fair Work Act 2009
uses a very different strategy as compared to Work Choices but has retained many
features of the legislation, some of which relate to the settlement of disputes at the
workplace.
The Fair Work Commission (initially named Fair Work Australia), is mandated with the

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 7
approval of all enterprise agreements before their legal enforcement. It is required that
before a dispute resolution procedure is approved, it has to meet the following:
 Must contain a term that allows an independent party who is not affiliated with the
employees, employee organizations associated with the procedure or employers, to
resolve disputes:
i) Regarding any issues arising from the procedure; and
ii) Relating to National Employment Standards;
 Must contain a term that enables the representation of the employees protected by the
agreement concerning the procedure.
 The dispute resolution procedure must permit unresolved disputes at the workplace to
be handled by an independent individual or organization. In that case, the organization
or the individual should be an industrial tribunal.
B) Section 739 & 740 of the Fair Work Act
In workplace dispute resolution, this section of the act makes it clear that the industrial
tribunal is only allowed to exercise powers that have been provided by the procedure only
(Waterhouse & Colley, 2010). Additionally, the conciliator or industrial tribunal is not
allowed to make a decision that is not within the dispute resolution procedure or Fair Work
Act.

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 8
3. Actions to be conducted to resolve disputes
Several factors make the workplace more productive for the employees. The employees are
legally entitled to experience a workplace environment free from bullying and discrimination
(SEEK Limited, 2020). Employers are mandated with ensuring that every complaint receives
an individual response that each situation requires.
Preliminary action
The employer on receiving a complaint from employees, the first procedure should entail
determining if the reported complaint requires a formal investigation or if it can be
resolved through a less formal process conciliated between concerned parties. The
employees involved should also be reminded that victimization should not occur during
or after the investigation process. Individuals affected by the investigation should not
victimize the other or retaliate. Both parties should be informed that each will get an
opportunity for their grievances to be heard.
Informal procedure
Regardless of the case on the ground, employers must ensure that any applicable internal
dispute resolution procedure is adhered to. Another factor to be considered is
determining whether external or internal advocates of the company need to be engaged.
This should be the case especially when the management of the document creation
process is involved. If no creation of document is entailed in the process, everything can
be conducted in an informal manner.

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 9
Formal procedure
This phase involves focusing on determining what the root cause of the dispute is,
gathering facts, evidence, and witnesses to be used by the conciliator (“Formal Conflict
Resolution Processes”, 2020). Focusing on each party's grievances in detail should be
given priority to determine what needs to be investigated precisely and know how the
resolution will be executed or communicated. However, caution should be exercised
not to give promises about disclosure of information or documents involved in the
investigation to avoid either party having wrong expectations. The investigation should
be analysed to determine exactly the right course of action. If the mediator determines
that a formal investigation is needed, both parties should be made to understand that
the entire process is driven towards taking care of the employees' welfare and safety.
They should approach the process with the primary aim of meeting their contractual
obligations as required, and resolving the conflict where possible with minimal legal
actions involved.
4. Reporting and Recording of the dispute process
Workplace disputes can arise from any situation involving two parties, such as breached
agreement, misunderstanding or infringement of policies. As such, good record-keeping is
essential for future reference and confirming facts when the dispute resolution process is in
place (Worklogic, 2020).
a) When to record
Record of a dispute should be done any time an employee encounters any form of rights
infringement, such as bullying, non-adherence to contractual obligations, discrimination
among others. The recording should be detailed and point out facts as they occurred.

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 10
b) Methods of recording
On most occasions, audio recording is often the quickest and easiest way of recoding a
dispute at the workplace. Digital or tape recorders form a more convenient method of
recording a conflict. Afterward, transcribing the audio recording needs to be done since:
o Written notes form a more convenient reference than skipping the audio back and
forth.
o It is easier for written notes to be reviewed by other people.
o Audiotapes may be erased or damaged.
c) Privacy and confidentiality
Various jurisdictions have varying regulations about the recording of audio conversations at the
workplace. Whether legal or not, electronic recording of audio without the prior knowledge and
consent of concerned parties should never be done. Additionally, recording conversations
should only be done in very unusual circumstances. Some people may find it offensive, and this
is not conducive to the dispute resolution process.
5. Assistance from arbiters and conciliators
Mediation between the disputants at the workplace can be handled better by a mediator or
conciliator with no affiliation with either of the employees, employee organizations
associated with resolution procedure or the employer. The following is a list of external
conciliators that can be sort should need to arise:
i) Raymond Abrahams.
ii) McRae-Anderson.
iii) Marcel Alter

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 11
iv) Francesca Gerner.
v) Alexander Elliot.
vi) Carolyn King.
vii) Eugene Quigly.
6. Email to Jake
Send
To: [e-mail]
Cc…
Bcc...
Subjec
t
REVIEW OF SULLIVAN'S DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE
Dear Jake,
Following your request to review the dispute resolution procedure on the Sullivon Constructions
website, I have identified that the company does not have a procedure posted. Luck of this
important document can result in confusion, time wastage and costly should a dispute arise
between any parties in Sullivon Constructions.
As such, I have carefully drafted a dispute resolution procedure which your company can adopt
as its official document. Please find the draft procedure attached to this email for review and
approval by the management team.
Sincerely Yours,
[Name]

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 12
Part B: Investigating a business dispute
Name of the
investigator:
[Student Name] Date of investigation: February 10, 2020
Signature:
Party 1:
Name: Angelo Thomas
Details of dispute He claimed that his task required a much longer time to complete and he was
rushing against a deadline hence Miguel should allow him to start his tasks
first.
Party 2:
Name: Miguel Antonio
Details of dispute He claimed that he was the first to arrive at the site hence should be the first to
commence his tasks. He also reported comments from Angelo about his
cultural origin.
Witness Account:
Name: Mathew Davis
An account of the
incident:
Mathew while working at a nearby site, 20 meters away witnessed the
development of the dispute.
Findings
Miguel arrived at the site first, followed by Angelo 2 minutes later. Angelo’s task requires more time to
execute than Miguel’s. The latter had 2 other sites to work on, while the former was working on his last
task. Angelo made comments about Miguel’s cultural origin, which the latter did not take lightly.
The recommended course of action:
Both parties were requested to halt their works at the site until the dispute is resolved. A resolution session
was set for both parties to try and resolve their grievance.
Table 1.0: Dispute investigation report.

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 13
Part C: Identifying appropriate dispute resolution (Audio Presentation)
Conciliator: I would like to thank you all for complying with my request to attend this
session on 5th February 2020 aimed at finding a solution for your dispute. I confirm
attendance of Miguel in person, while Angelo unable to attend in person, joined us via
a telephone conference call. The phone is in loudspeaker mode so both of you can
listen and follow through. Angelo, please confirm your attendance.
Angel: I am Angelo Thomas, attending the session through a telephone conference.
Conciliator: Miguel, your turn.
Miguel: I am Miguel Antonio confirming my attendance in person.
Conciliator: Going forward, the issue being disputed occurred on 3rd February 2020 at St.
Patricks' construction site under Sullivon Constructions. Both of you were contesting
to be the first to commence their work at the site being disputed over. The site in
question could only allow one person at a time. Mathew Davis witnessed the
development of the dispute and confirmed that Miguel arrived at the site first,
followed by Angelo 2 minutes later. Angelo was also heard commenting about
Miguel’s cultural origin during the arguments. Angelo, do you agree with the
statements?
Angelo: Yeah, that is in order.
Conciliator: Miguel, do you agree?
Miguel: Yes.
Conciliator: From my discussion with Miguel, it is clear that he had two other sites to work
on. Working on a single site would require him approximately 3 hours. On the other
hand, the site being disputed over was Angelo's last site and would take him 1 day to
complete his task. It is also clear that both of you are rushing to beat the deadline

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 14
issued by Sullivan, which is 2 days from the date the dispute arose. To enable both of
you meet your contractual obligations and Sullivon be able to meet the client's
expectations, I would recommend that Miguel allow Angelo to commence his work at
the site. Miguel will then proceed to work on one of the other two sites he is set to
work on. Both of you maintaining proper working rate, Angelo shall have completed
his task at the disputed site while Miguel shall have completed working at the other
two sites. Miguel will then proceed to commence his work at the site in dispute.
Regarding the appalling comments made by Angelo, I suggest that he apologizes to
Miguel so both of you can meet your obligations. Is this in order Miguel?
Miguel: This is in order, but I expect an apology in writing, otherwise I will seek legal action
against him.
Angelo: I apologize verbally, for now, to allow both of us to meet our obligations and will
also do so in writing after completing my tasks at the site.
Conciliator: Miguel, is that okay with you?
Miguel: That is okay.
Conciliator: With both of you reaching an agreement, we can consider the dispute resolved.
Angelo, please remember to honour your word by writing the apology letter. If this is
not done and Miguel sorts of legal action, it might end up being costly and affecting
your time and performance towards executing your duties to Sullivon Constructions.

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 15
References
Forsyth, A. (2012). Workplace conflict resolution in Australia: The dominance of the public
dispute resolution framework and the limited role of ADR. The International Journal
of Human Resource Management, 23(3), 476-494.
MacDermott, T., & Riley, J. (2011). Alternative dispute resolution and individual workplace
rights: The evolving role of Fair Work Australia. Journal of Industrial Relations,
53(5), 718-732.
Creighton, B. (2011). A retreat from individualism? The Fair Work Act 2009 and the re-
collectivisation of Australian labour law. Industrial Law Journal, 40(2), 116-145.
Spencer, D., & Hardy, S. (2014). Dispute Resolution in Australia: cases, commentary, and
materials. Thomson Reuters.
Lodder, A. R., & Zeleznikow, J. (2010). Enhanced dispute resolution through the use of
information technology. Cambridge University Press.
Van Gramberg, B. (2006). Managing workplace conflict: Alternative dispute resolution in
Australia. Federation Press.
Waterhouse, J., & Colley, L. (2010). The work-life provisions of the Fair Work Act: A
compromise of stakeholder preference. Australian Bulletin of Labour, 36(2), 154.
Bohatko-Naismith, J., James, C., Guest, M., & Rivett, D. A. (2015). The role of the
Australian workplace return to work coordinator: essential qualities and attributes.
Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 25(1), 65-73.
Charrett, D. (2020). Construction Disputes – Australia – MTECC. [online] Mtecc.com.au.
Available at: https://mtecc.com.au/construction-disputes-australia/ [Accessed 10 Feb.
2020].
Worklogic, J. F. (2020, January 29). Recording Work Conversations. Retrieved February 11,
2020, from
https://www.worklogic.com.au/whistleblower-reporting-service/recording-work-
conversations/
SEEK Limited, S. B. (2020, January 30). 4 steps to resolving workplace disputes. Retrieved
February 10, 2020, from https://www.seek.com.au/employer/hiring-advice/4-steps-
resolving-workplace-disputes
Dispute resolution procedures. (2019, September 19). Retrieved February 11, 2020, from
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/books/inc-guide-incorporated-associations-
western-australia/dispute-resolution-procedures

CPCCBC4024A Resolve Business Disputes 16
Formal Conflict Resolution Processes. (2020, January 7). Retrieved February 11, 2020, from
https://instr.iastate.libguides.com/c.php?g=49492&p=318760