SEnA Mediation Day for Employees: What to Bring, How to Negotiate, When to Sign

What SEnA is: a negotiating table, not a courtroom

SEnA, the Single Entry Approach, is the Department of Labor and Employment's mandatory conciliation and mediation step. Most labor disputes pass through it before they can go to formal arbitration. Its purpose is to get both sides talking, with a neutral officer helping, and to reach a settlement quickly.

That shapes everything about the day. The mediator will not rule that your employer broke the law, and will not order them to pay a particular amount. Their job is to help both sides state their positions, reconcile the numbers and lay out possible settlements. Whether a deal is reached depends on both sides being willing to move.

Your task, therefore, is not to win the argument but to leave with a result you can actually collect. Evidence matters because it gives you leverage. At the table, though, a clear itemized calculation often carries more weight than a long account of how badly you were treated.

If mediation fails, the case can be referred onward to formal arbitration, which is slower and more formal. For an overview of time and cost at each stage, see how long a labor case takes. For many employees, a reasonable settlement at the mediation stage is the best value they will get from the whole process.

Until you sign a settlement, nothing is final. You keep every claim you had when you walked in, and you are free to ask for time to think before you commit to anything.

It also helps to remember that the employer's representative is often an HR officer or a lawyer who attends many of these sessions. They know the process well. Your advantage is preparation: knowing your dates, your documents and your numbers in detail, so that every point you make can be checked on paper on the spot.

What to bring: one evidence file, sorted by issue

Group one proves the employment relationship: offer letter, employment contract, company ID, payslips, bank credit records, and work emails or chat messages showing your role. Foreign employees should add copies of their passport, labor permit and visa page.

Group two proves the money you are claiming. For unpaid salary, bring payslips and bank records showing which months were short or missing. For overtime, bring schedules, time records or messages from a supervisor asking you to stay late. For delayed final pay, bring your resignation or termination notice and handover records. The wider problem of delayed final pay is covered in when final pay is withheld.

Group three shows that you tried to settle before filing: the demand emails you sent and any reply, or the lack of one. This tells the mediator you came to DOLE after negotiation failed, not as a first move.

Bring originals plus at least two copies of everything: one set for the mediator, one for the other side, and keep the originals yourself. Put each group in a labelled folder, such as employment, unpaid salary, overtime and final pay, so you can produce the right papers when each issue comes up.

For which documents carry the most weight later and what formal requirements apply, see documents for labor arbitration. Mediation is less strict than arbitration, but the tidier your file, the more credible your numbers look across the table.

If some evidence is only on your phone, such as chat messages or photos of schedules, print the key screenshots with the date and the sender visible, and keep the phone with you in case anyone asks to see the originals. Screenshots without dates or names are easy to dismiss and hard to rely on later.

Work out your numbers before you go: claim, acceptable, bottom line

The most common way employees lose ground in mediation is not weak evidence. It is walking in without knowing what they want. The employer names a figure, and the employee either rejects everything or panics and accepts the first offer.

Prepare three figures. The first is your full claim: every item you believe the company owes, listed separately, such as unpaid salary, unused leave conversion, proportional thirteenth-month pay and overtime. Itemizing matters, because it is much harder for the other side to discount a list than a single lump sum.

The second is your acceptable figure: what you would take if it were paid in one go, soon. Many employees accept less than the full claim in exchange for speed and certainty, and that can be a perfectly rational choice.

The third is your bottom line: below this, you would rather go to arbitration than sign. Set it by weighing the time, effort and uncertainty of a longer case against the company's ability to pay. If the business is close to collapse, a modest settlement paid today may be worth more than a large award you never collect.

Keep these three figures on your own sheet and do not reveal them early. You can show the mediator the itemized list, which helps them judge whether your claim is reasonable. How each item is computed depends on current DOLE rules and legal advice.

Write the calculation down step by step, not only the totals. If you show how you arrived at each figure, for example the daily rate multiplied by the number of unpaid days, the other side has to engage with the method rather than simply saying the total is too high, and the mediator can follow it easily.

At the table: state your case, reconcile the numbers, then discuss options

Sessions usually start with each side stating its position. Keep yours to a few minutes: when you started, what you did, what happened and what you are asking for. Stick to facts and figures. Leave out emotion and personal attacks; they rarely help and often harden the other side.

Next, reconcile the numbers. Put your itemized list on the table and ask the other side to respond line by line: which items they accept, which they dispute and why. Breaking one large dispute into small pieces often reveals that several items are not really contested at all; they simply had not been paid.

Then discuss options. Common structures include a lump sum on a fixed date, instalments with a stated amount and date for each, or a cash amount combined with non-cash terms such as a certificate of employment or cooperation on immigration paperwork. Foreign employees should consider writing permit cancellation and visa downgrade or conversion into the settlement, because these steps affect your status afterwards; our visa and HR team can advise on that side.

If the company's representative says they have no authority to agree, ask the mediator to schedule another session and request that someone who can decide attends next time. Do not make concessions to someone who cannot commit in return.

Stay polite, but do not let anyone rush you. If you need time, ask for a further session.

Take your own notes throughout. Write down what the other side accepts, what it disputes and any figures it mentions. If the session ends without agreement, those notes help you prepare for the next meeting and stop the other side from quietly walking back points they already conceded in the room.

Signing on the day: check these five points first

If you reach agreement, the mediator will help draft a settlement. Before signing, check five things. If any is unclear, ask and have it fixed before you sign.

Amount: the figure is final and matches what was agreed verbally. If items are listed separately, each one is correct.

Payment method and date: cash, cheque or bank transfer, and on which date. For instalments, the amount and date of each. "Payment as soon as possible" is not good enough and invites delay.

What happens if they do not pay: does the agreement say what follows a missed payment? If the employer signs and then defaults, see when an employer will not pay a labor award.

What you are giving up: settlements usually include a clause stating neither side has further claims. Make sure you understand which claims you are releasing, and that you are not accidentally giving up something you meant to keep, such as a separate entitlement you plan to pursue.

Side obligations: certificate of employment, clearance, permit cancellation, visa cooperation. Are they written in, who is responsible and by when?

If you cannot follow the English, ask the mediator to explain, or bring someone you trust. If in doubt, schedule another session rather than signing. Individual cases should be reviewed by a licensed lawyer; this article is not legal advice.

Ask for a copy of the signed agreement before you leave the office, and check that every page carries the right signatures. A settlement you cannot produce later, or one missing a page, is much harder to enforce if the employer fails to pay as promised.

After mediation: getting paid, moving on if it fails, and how Yixing can help

If you signed and the employer pays on time, keep the receipt and the original settlement. Those two documents answer any later question about the dispute, so store them somewhere safe.

If you signed and they do not pay, do not keep chasing informally. Use the formal enforcement route; see enforcing a labor award or settlement.

If no settlement is reached, the mediator issues a referral and you can take the case to formal arbitration. Evidence formalities and position papers matter far more there, so consider a lawyer or free legal aid. If you are still employed and face retaliation after filing, see retaliation after a labor complaint.

Foreign employees must watch their immigration status throughout. Check whether your visa and permit remain valid during the dispute, and how much time you will have after separation to downgrade, convert or leave. Do not let a labor case push you into overstaying, which creates a much bigger problem than the original dispute.

Yixing works on the immigration side: mapping your visa options during a dispute, coordinating a new work visa with your next employer, or arranging departure if you plan to go home. The labor dispute itself should be handled by a lawyer or legal aid. Yixing is SEC-registered (CS202009551) and holds Bureau of Immigration Accreditation No. CA-202624381-1 (valid until 30 June 2027) and DOLE accreditation.

Whatever the outcome, keep the whole file together for at least several years: the evidence, your notes, the settlement or referral and proof of payment. Questions about old employment sometimes come up again, for example in a later visa application or a background check, and a complete record answers them quickly.