The Federal Aviation Administration has announced that it
opened the Center for Early Dispute Resolution, with Daniel
C. Hedges – formerly the Deputy Assistant Administrator for
System Safety – as executive director reporting directly to
administrator Marion C. Blakey.
“The new center will help employees and managers address
workplace disputes at their earliest stages,” Blakey said.
According to FAA, the center was opened in response to
employee feedback in the agency’s 2000 and 2003 workforce
surveys, and stressed that the center is not a replacement of
other formal processes such as its accountability board or
the equal employment opportunity process.
“The center will function as an independent office, providing
critical tools for resolving conflicts between employees and
managers as well as issues between colleagues,” FAA said,
adding that it hopes to reduce the financial impact of
workplace conflicts.
It said center personnel would provide employees with
information and guidance on conflict management and resolution,
as well as training, coaching, intervention and mediation
services – and that data collected by the center would be used
for trend analysis to develop further procedures.
The center will be initially available to personnel in the
Washington headquarters only.
