SC eyes wider mediation
Commissioners should have the authority to order mediation in any workers’ compensation case they deem appropriate, says Commissioner Derrick Williams, who is working with attorneys from both sides to prepare regulations to that effect.
Mediation, for the most part, would be non-binding and non-mandatory, and both parties from the outset would have the right to consent or opt out of mediation, he told the audience at a recent meeting of the South Carolina Self-Insurers Association. Regulations would set guidelines for mediation, which is widely used by courts at almost every level.
“As a general rule, we will make the parties split the cost,” he said, adding if the parties can’t agree on a mediator the commission would appoint one from a list of certified mediators knowledgeable about workers’ comp.
Commissioner Williams said mediation may be made mandatory in complex cases, such as those involving catastrophic trauma, multiple employers, third-party lien cases, and contested death and mental-mental cases. He said the commission would track mediations to see how well they are working to settle cases.
He added he expects to have draft legislation worked out early in the year, and commission-ordered mediations may become common in the fiscal year starting July 1, 2012.