When Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) services are used, the recipients of the services have agreed to abide by FMCS’s general terms of service as well as any other terms of service provided by FMCS.

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(a) The recipients of a service shall hold FMCS and any FMCS neutrals harmless of any claim arising from the delivery of that FMCS service.

(b) FMCS will determine the date, time, place, and manner (virtual, in-person, or hybrid) of services provided in accordance with any applicable statutes, regulations, and agreements.

(c) FMCS may convene the parties for a threatened or actual work stoppage whenever in its judgment such dispute threatens to cause a substantial interruption of commerce.

(d) Any person shadowing an FMCS neutral agrees to be bound by the same confidentiality standards as the FMCS neutral and such confidentiality standards will be honored by the parties.

(e) FMCS recognizes the importance of mediator confidentiality to further its mission. Therefore, FMCS will not produce any materials related to a mediation other than the date, parties, location, and mediator, unless required by law. FMCS will not produce materials related to a mediation, materials exchanged in a mediation or facilitation, information related to non-plenary sessions of a facilitation, mediator or facilitator notes, and any internal communications with the mediator of facilitator, unless required by law.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to negate or modify the FMCS’s Confidential Commercial Information (CCI) regulation (29 CFR 1401.26).

(g) FMCS will make a copy of these terms available to all parties upon request.