§ 172.205.Draft Conciliation Settlement

The proposal, and the sentence that follows it.

The conciliator may prepare a draft conciliation settlement at any time during the conciliation.

A copy goes to each party, stating the time within which each must approve it.

Costs may be included. The draft may include the assessment and apportionment of costs between the parties.

A deadline focuses the decision. Open-ended proposals drift, and a stated period forces an answer.

Then comes the guarantee. A party is not required to accept a proposed conciliation settlement.

That sentence is what keeps conciliation voluntary. A conciliator who drafts terms and sets a deadline could otherwise look like an adjudicator issuing a decision.

Refusal carries no penalty in the process. Section 172.210 provides that submitting to conciliation waives no right or remedy a party would otherwise have.

Termination follows a refusal. Section 172.208 lets a conciliator declare that further efforts are not justified, or a party declare the conciliation terminated.

Acceptance produces something powerful. A signed written settlement meeting Section 172.211 has the force and effect of a final arbitration award.

The draft is a tool, not a ruling. Putting terms on paper often shows the parties how close they already are.

Including costs in the draft is useful, because Section 172.212 otherwise splits them equally and a settlement is the place to change that.

The conciliator sets the approval period, which the section leaves to judgment rather than fixing by statute.