The Ombuds Blog: Town of Chapel Hill Explores Ombuds for Employees

January 24, 2011

Town of Chapel Hill Explores Ombuds for Employees

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is considering the creation of an Ombuds program to provide confidential, disinterested, third-party assistance to town employees with workplace issues and concerns. The municipality, which is home to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, has fewer than 1,000 employees. According to a town news release, "A relationship has been discussed with UNC-CH to provide ombuds services to Town employees." No other details have been released. (Chapel Hill News.)

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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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January 24, 2011

Town of Chapel Hill Explores Ombuds for Employees

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