California workplace mediation
A workplace dispute can be worked out before anyone files a lawsuit.
An employee describes what happened, in confidence. At launch, the employee and the employer each choose from the same slate of mediators, and the conversation runs through that mediator under California's mediation confidentiality statutes. Wiser Workplace has not launched yet. What is open today is the waitlist.
Free for employees · Confidential by contract now, under California mediation law once mediation is engaged · Not a law firm — no legal advice · Voluntary for both sides
Say it once, in confidence, at your own pace.
If you are an employee: when intake opens, nothing will be sent to your employer until you choose to send it, and you will be able to stop at any point.
A route that costs less than litigating, and closes sooner.
If you are an employer: you see the claim, you pick a mediator from the same slate, and the exchange stays confidential.
How it works
Confidential intake
You write down what happened and attach anything you already have. It stays with us until you decide to move forward.
Both sides pick a mediator
Employee and employer select from the same curated slate. Each mediator's background, rate, and availability are listed in full.
Mediation, through that mediator
The exchange runs through the mediator. Mediation is voluntary: either side can leave, and it may end without an agreement.
Free California employment law guides
- At-will employment, and its exceptions
- What counts as wrongful termination
- Final paycheck rules and deadlines
- Meal and rest break requirements
- Filing a wage claim with the Labor Commissioner
- Whistleblower protections
All 71 guides. Plain-English explainers. Not legal advice, and reading one does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Why confidentiality is the whole point
People will only speak plainly if what they say cannot be turned into evidence later. California law draws that line for mediation, and the platform is built inside it.
California Evidence Code § 1119. Anything said, and any writing prepared, for the purpose of, in the course of, or pursuant to a mediation is generally inadmissible and not subject to discovery in a later noncriminal proceeding. Summarised for orientation, not as legal advice. Limited statutory exceptions apply. This protection attaches once a mediation is engaged with an independent neutral; before that, the confidentiality is contractual.
Handle the dispute while it is still a conversation.
For employers: mediation is cheaper than litigation and it ends the matter privately. It is also voluntary, so it can fail. What we can tell you is exactly what the process involves and what it costs.
Register as an employer · Read the cost breakdown · Mediators · Guides · Costs · Mediator standards · Glossary