Third Party Conflict Resolution – Sick Leave The sick leave case involved Kelly, who was hired by the Soto Board of Education in Japan. His employment was with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET), and the Conference of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) had taken over the contracts for JET workers. CLAIR's role was to act as a liaison during recruitment and selection, counseling and participant welfare. Their main function was to promote exchange at the local level. The document stated that if a problem arose with the host institution, it was up to the host institution to address and resolve the issue. If the problem was not resolved, the participant could contact CLAIR with their complaints. It was up to them to intervene on behalf of the JET participants and work to solve the problem. Kelly was hired as an assistant language teacher (ALT) and had been on the job for six months. He had to work three days a week in the school board office and two days helping with the English program. His contract stipulated that his hours were Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those hours were not the hours of Japanese workers. Their culture required employees to work six days a week and rarely take vacation. Kelly's contract also provided for holiday and sick leave, but clauses on when a doctor's note was required and how much notice was given for holiday time off. Kelly became ill and called his boss at the Board of Education office and stated that he would not be there for two days due to illness. Her boss, Mr. Higashi, told her that she should bring a doctor's note with her when she returned to work. She did as she was asked and received the ticket when she returned to work two days later. His boss wanted him… half paper… so this is a cultural difference between Mr. Higashi and the employee. However, if Kelly was planning to use vacation time for vacation and sick leave for illness, this means that Kelly is not allowed to use vacation time for this vacation. The compromise would be for Mr. Higashi and Kelly to agree to use one day of sick leave and one day of vacation. This strategy would allow both parties to win to some extent and at the same time be able to maintain an agreeable relationship between the two parties. Works Cited Lewicki, R. J., Saunders, D. M., & Barry, B. (2005). Negotiation, fifth ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.Lewicki, R.J., Saunders, D.M., & Barry, B. (2006). Readings, exercises and negotiation cases Fifth ed. Bill Brubaker, Mark Asher, A Howard Negotiation Power Play (pp. 616-626). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.