Conciliation of a labor dispute by the Labour Relations Commission under the provisions of Article 20 of the Labor Union Act is prescribed by the provisions of this Chapter.

The Labour Relations Commission carries out conciliation in any of the following cases:

Conciliation of a labor dispute by the Labour Relations Commission is carried out by a conciliation committee, by establishing a committee consisting of conciliation committee members representing the employers, those representing the workers and those representing the public interest.

The number of the conciliation committee members representing the employers and that of the mediation committee members representing workers must be equal.

①The chairperson of the Labour Relations Commission nominates the conciliation committee members representing the employers from among the employer members of the Labour Relations Commission (or, in the case of the Central Labour Relations Commission, from among the employer members responsible for general enterprises) or the special members for adjustment of the Labour Relations Commission representing the employers; nominates the conciliation committee members representing the workers from among the labor members of the Labour Relations Commission (or, in the case of the Central Labour Relations Commission, from among the labor members responsible for general enterprises) or the special members for adjustment of the Labour Relations Commission representing the workers; and nominates the conciliation committee members representing the public interest from among the public members of the Labour Relations Commission (or, in the case of the Central Labour Relations Commission, from among the public members responsible for general enterprises) or the special members for adjustment of the Labour Relations Commission representing the public interest.

②With respect to cases prescribed by Cabinet Order as those to be dealt with by the Central Labour Relations Commission in the local areas provided for in Article 19-10, paragraph (1) of the Labor Union Act, the chairperson of the Central Labour Relations Commission nominates, notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, conciliation committee members from among the local members for adjustment provided for in paragraph (1) of the same Article; provided, however, that this does not apply in the case that the chairperson of the Central Labor Relations Commission finds that it would be inappropriate to nominate a mediation committee member from among those local members for adjustment.

A conciliation committee is to have a chairperson. The chairperson is elected by the conciliation committee from among the conciliation committee members representing the public interest.

①The conciliation committee is convened by its chairperson and its proceedings are decided by a majority vote of those in attendance.

②No meeting may be held unless the conciliation committee members representing the employers and those representing the workers are present.

The conciliation committee fixes a date, requests the attendance of the parties concerned and requests them to present their opinions.

In conducting conciliation proceedings, the conciliation committee may prohibit any persons other than the parties concerned and persons of reference from participating.

①The conciliation committee may draft a conciliation proposal, present it to the parties concerned and recommend that it be accepted, as well as to publish the conciliation proposal together with a statement of the reasons therefor. If necessary, the conciliation committee may request the cooperation of newspapers and radio stations in making these matters public.

②If the conciliation proposal presented under the preceding paragraph is accepted by both parties concerned and thereafter disagreement arises over interpretation or implementation of the mediation proposal, the parties concerned must request the conciliation committee to provide its views on the interpretation or implementation of the proposal.

③Within fifteen days from the date of the request set forth in the preceding paragraph, the conciliation committee must provide its views on the interpretation or implementation of the matters requested to the parties concerned.

④Until the views on interpretation or implementation under the preceding paragraph have been presented, neither of the parties concerned may resort to acts of dispute with regard to the interpretation or implementation of the conciliation proposal; provided, however, that this does not apply in the case that the period set forth in the preceding paragraph has elapsed.

Necessary preferential treatment must be given in order to expedite the conciliation of cases concerning public welfare business, in particular.

No provision in this Chapter is to be construed to preclude the settlement of a case by means of mediation other than those prescribed herein, either by mutual agreement of the parties involved in labor dispute or in accordance with the provisions of a labor agreement.