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Mediation Appeals Program (MAP)

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) offers the services of MSPB’s trained and certified mediators through its Mediation Appeals Program.

NOW IT'S UP TO YOU

We hope that this information has helped you decide whether MAP may be right for you as an alternative to adjudication.  Remember, though, that both parties must agree before MSPB will accept a case into MAP.  To express an interest in using MAP, please contact the assigned Administrative Judge.  For cases pending before the Board on petition for review (PFR), the parties may submit completed forms or questions about PFR MAP to the MAP Coordinator at regionaloperations@MSPB.gov.  If both parties agree to participate in MAP, it is important for them to discuss dates within the next month on which they will be available for mediation and to suggest the location at which it might be appropriate to hold it, so that the mediation can be set with minimum delay.  When the parties sign the Agreement to Mediate, they will be asked to provide this information.  Mediations may be scheduled in person at the Regional or Field office, Board headquarters, virtually, or by telephone. Please keep in mind that while MSPB Mediators are skilled in assisting the parties to arrive at mutually beneficial settlements of their disputes, if an appeal is not resolved in mediation, it will return to the adjudication track.  If this should happen, however, the mediator will not tell the Administrative Judge or the Board members anything about the matters discussed during mediation other than that the parties were unable to resolve the appeal.  You will find that MSPB Administrative Judges are also adept at reaching settlements between the parties, and many cases that go through MAP without reaching a settlement later settle after they return to adjudication.  Even where the case is resolved by an Administrative Judge’s decision, the mediation process often helps sharpen the parties’ focus on the matters truly in dispute and the resolution that they seek.  Finally, remember that the majority of appeals go through the adjudication process, and that if yours is one of them, the MSPB’s record of timely, high-quality adjudication and skillful use of alternative dispute resolution methods will assure you a fair and complete chance to be heard by a seasoned Administrative Judge and by the Board if there is a petition for review.