Arbitration is a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution in which the parties select a neutral third party to decide their claims outside of traditional court systems. Black's Law Dictionary defines it as "a method of dispute resolution involving one or more neutral third parties who are usually agreed to by the disputing parties and whose decision is binding." 119 (9th ed. 2009). Historically, arbitration was disfavored as a means of dispute resolution. Many states flatly refused to enforce arbitration agreements. Oklahoma, for example, refused to enforce arbitration agreements as they were seen as depriving the courts of their rightful jurisdiction and as generally adverse to public policy. the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) was passed in 1925 to combat such judicial hostility. 

Today, there is a strong federal policy in favor of arbitration agreements. Indeed, the FAA "requires courts to place arbitration agreements 'on equal footing with all other contracts.'" Kindred Nursing Centers Ltd. P'ship v. Clark, 137 S. Ct. 1421, 1424 (2017). It has been said that the "FAA's central purpose is to ensure that private agreements to arbitrate are enforced according to their terms."  Mastrobuono v. Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc., 514 U.S. 52 (1995). Despite this broad federal policy, the FAA expressly exempts workers who are "engaged in interstate commerce." The Supreme Court has declared that this exemption includes any and all employees who perform a direct and necessary role in interstate commerce.

This guide is divided into two sections: one focusing on general federal materials and the other on Oklahoma-specific resources. In most scenarios, the federal materials will be equally applicable in Oklahoma due to the strong federal preemption in arbitration-related cases. Even where state law is not preempted, the Oklahoma Uniform Arbitration Act (OUAA) closely mirrors the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), ensuring that resolutions under either framework are substantially consistent. Additionally, arbitration agreements often include choice-of-law provisions that allow parties to specify which Act governs their proceedings, further aligning the relevancy of these materials in Oklahoma. 

This guide aims to equip readers with essential resources for understanding the legal frameworks and applications of employment arbitration both nationally and within Oklahoma. 

As may be evident, it is principles of contract law which perform most of the work in the field of arbitration. Despite contract law's centrality to the issue, this guide seeks to focus solely on those resources unique to employment arbitration. Where possible this guide will reference to freely available resources.