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The Ombuds Program

Handling Issues without Litigation

In a bid to hear about employees’ issues before they reach the level of a formal
grievance or legal charge, many companies have instituted Ombuds programs.

An Ombuds serves three primary functions:
confidentiality, neutrality, and informality.





Under nearly all circumstances, information shared with the Ombudsperson is considered off the record and completely confidential. Exceptions are made when serious harm is threatened upon another or a very serious financial threat is made
to the company. Most maintain non-identifiable notes on current cases and destroy
case notes after situations are resolved.

Some companies, for example, American Express, maintain a separate
computer and e-mail system to ensure confidentiality.

The Ombudsperson is neither an advocate for the organization nor is s/he an
advocate for the employee. The listen to employee concerns fairly and equitably.
They are not interested in a particular outcome to a situation, rather their role is to provide complainants with options from which to determine the preferred resolution
to a problem.
The Ombudsperson is not usually part of a company’s management structure
and does not make policy nor management decisions. They do not take formal complaints nor are they a formal route through which investigations are made.

Contacting them does not/should not put the company on formal notice. They are
an alternative channel of communication, complementing but not replacing the company’s formal resolution channels an Ombudsman.

They help with a wide variety of problems, inquiries and concerns at work, in
whatever ways are perceived helpful by the employer and by the managers and
employees of the company. They foster and support fair and proper communications
and practices and provide a form of alternative dispute resolution. Most especially,
they reduce costs associated with formal complaints and legal action.

The FutureWork Institute conducts benchmarking research and consults
with companies on setting up Ombuds programs.
For more information call us at (718) 832-8625.