ARBITRATION
| GREECE |
| DIETISÍA διαιτησία ARBITRATION |
Arbitration constitutes the final stage of the settlement of disputes of rights and of interest and, as regulated at present by Law 1876/1990, is very different from the former regime of compulsory arbitration in Greece. First, recourse may be had to arbitration at any time by mutual consent, i.e. even before the commencement of collective bargaining with a view to drafting a collective agreement. Secondly, arbitration may be invoked unilaterally during negotiations either by the employer or by the employees, i.e. by the side which refuses to go to mediation. Thirdly, it may be initiated by the trade unions in cases where the employer rejects the proposal put forward by the mediator, and in these circumstances the right to strike is suspended for ten days. However, in the event of a dispute arising within an enterprise, whether in the private or the public sector, the right to have recourse to arbitration resides with either side, provided that one side has accepted the mediator's proposal and the other has rejected it. The arbitrator is selected from a special list by mutual agreement between the two sides or, in the absence of such agreement, drawn at random from the list. Arbitrators take up their duties five days after this and must then issue a decision within ten days in cases where arbitration has been preceded by mediation or within thirty days where there has been no prior mediation. The arbitrator's decision (called an arbitration "award") has the same standing in law as a collective agreement (see dispute settlement , Mediation and Arbitration Service ).
Please note: the European industrial relations glossaries were compiled between 1991 and 2003 and are not updated. For current material see the European industrial relations dictionary.