After applying for mediation with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Resolution (TADM), you and the other party are placed with TADM. If mediation is successful, both write and sign a transaction contract in the presence of an approved mediator. The transaction contract is a legally binding contract between you and the other party. It is an agreement to settle existing or potential disputes between the two of you and contains conditions that you must both respect. A transaction/mediation agreement involving the cancellation of a downgrade involving a reduction in wages requires a PD-14, ”Back Pay/Front Pay Statement.” Cancelling or reducing the duration of a disciplinary suspension without payment also requires a PD-14. Mediation is above all a non-binding procedure. This means that, although the parties have agreed to mediate a dispute, they are not required to continue the mediation process after the first meeting. In this sense, the parties still have control over mediation. The continuation of the process depends on their continued acceptance. We agree that this agreement can be signed in your counterparties and sent electronically to the bankruptcy office. Once the minutes of settlement are signed by the parties and the Ombudsman, the agreement becomes a complete and final settlement and cannot be reopened by any of the parties. There is a change in financial calculations at each stage of the audit and approval process, the agency/university must submit a revised PD-14.

OSHR will coordinate the verification and approval process with the OSBM for colonies above the $100,000 threshold. Any party to a transaction agreement can request registration. The application must be submitted within four weeks of the date the transaction agreement was signed by all parties to the transaction agreement. The PD-14 must be submitted with the exact and correct amounts to OSHR for verification and approval. To ensure the accuracy of the financial calculations on the PD-14, BEACON agencies, boards of directors and commissions may interview BEST Shared Services to verify financial calculations before submitting the OSHR approval form. Universities can use other applicable HRIS/Payroll systems. Payments over $100,000 are subject to additional OSBM approval. For agencies using the BEACON HR/Payroll system, all personnel and system changes related to the resolution of BEST Shared Services claims are processed. BEST Shared Services does not process a transaction agreement that requires payment of wages without the documents listed below.

Transaction agreements are a very useful way to ensure that disputes between employers and workers (or potential disputes) are concluded without both parties being forced to take legal action. However, the law can be complex with regard to them and it is always a good idea to take appropriate professional advice before starting to go along the route of the settlement agreement.