Our Employment, Workplace Relations and Safety Group works closely with its clients to navigate challenges, with a targeted and tailored approach to best support them to identify and then achieve their goals.
Our Employment Workplace Relations and Safety Group works with employers across a range of industries, including some of Australia’s largest employers, in both the private and public sectors.
Our specialist team is appropriately experienced, qualified, and resourced to assist clients with the most sensitive and complex of matters in all jurisdictions, nationally, and has been involved in some of Australia’s most significant industrial and employment law cases and projects.
Expertise
Employment law
- Contract review, drafting and negotiation
- Workplace policies and procedures
- Disciplinary procedures
- Performance management
- Workforce restructures and planning
- Termination of employment
- Restraint enforcement
- Risk mitigation
- Corporate transactions assistance
- Managing ill and injured workers
- Targeted and bespoke training courses and other opportunities
- Remuneration, benefits and incentive arrangements
- Statutory compliance assistance, including the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), and other federal legistration, relevant state based legislation, modern awards, enterprise agreements and other industrial instruments
Industrial Relations
- Enterprise bargaining
- Dealings with unions
- Right of entry
- Protected and unprotected industrial action
- Dispute resolution
- Representation in proceedings in the Fair Work Commission and state-based equivalents
Independent Contractors
- Advising regarding the engagement of independent contractors
- Drafting independent contractor agreements
- Dealing with compliance issues and claim
Workplace Investigations
- Conducting workplace investigations over all factual scenarios including alleged misconduct, bullying, harassment and sexual harassment and discrimination
Advocacy and Disputes
- The Group appears in all court jurisdictions in employment related dispute matters, including the Supreme, District and Local Courts of NSW (and interstate equivalents), the Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
- The Group assists clients in matters before the Fair Work Commission (including unfair dismissal and general protections), and other relevant industrial commissions and tribunals
- The Group also assists clients in responding to complaints brought in statutory bodies including the Australia Human Rights Commission, and state based bodies (eg. Anti-Discrimination NSW), the Victoria Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and the Queensland Human Rights Commission)
Safety
- Incident response and management
- Work Health and safety investigations
- Representation in safety related prosecutions
- Coronial inquests
Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Assisting clients to resolve employment related disputes as expeditiously and costs effectively as possible
Advice to Boards and Senior Management
- Advising and presenting to directors, executives and management on compliance and risk mitigation strategies in relation to employment and industrial relations matters and safety compliance and incidents
Discrimination
- Advising clients in responding to complaints and claims brought in relation to discrimination and equal opportunity matters in both employment and non-employment factual contexts
