We undertake both advisory work and litigation relating to the full range of workplace relations, employment and safety issues. Our practice has advised on some of the highest profile workplace relations matters in Australia in recent times and our lawyers have been recommended by leading independent commentators such as the Legal 500 Asia-Pacific.

Our focus is on providing responsive, decisive and commercially relevant advice, delivered in the most cost effective way for businesses.

Ultimately, our aim is to work through legal issues efficiently, so our clients can get back to doing what they do best as quickly as possible – focussing on core business.

Our expertise includes:

• Contracts, policies and procedures
• Equal Employment Opportunity, Discrimination and Bullying
• Work Health and Safety
• Employee disputes and terminations
• Industrial Relations
• Restraints.

Our practice has a broad client base that cuts across key industries including building and construction, maritime and offshore, rail, mining, technology, security, real estate, retail, fast food and hospitality, beauty and cosmetics, health and financial services. We act for a number of leading international and ASX listed companies in these industries as well as government, quasi-government bodies and large privately owned entities with repeat work that has driven the growth of the team.

• Acted for David Warner in relation to the “ball tampering” scandal arising out of the Third Test against South Africa at Newlands, South Africa in 2018.
• Provided Laing O’Rourke Australia Construction Pty Ltd with a comprehensive suite of employment, workplace relations and safety advice.
• Advised Prosegur Australia on a major transformation project in workplace relations relating to the acquisition of the cash-in-transit business of Toll from Japan Post and Toll enterprise agreement bargaining.
• Advised SolstadFarstad Pty Ltd, the largest offshore vessel operator in the world, on terminating and replacing an existing enterprise agreement. The work involved a watershed strategy of balloting employees with a single question to terminate and replace the enterprise agreement at the same time.

We recognise that our clients need reliable and enforceable contracts, policies and procedures to protect their interests and to ensure that their businesses comply with relevant employment legislation. We provide comprehensive workplace advisory services to examine, review and draft contracts of employment and policy documents, and ensure continued legislative compliance by auditing and assessing existing contracts and policies.

Our expertise includes:

• Executive contracts and other contracts for services
• Post-employment legal rights and obligations, particularly restraints of trade, breaches of confidentiality and intellectual property, the tort of interference, concepts such as “garden leave”, “reasonable notice” and so on
• Drafting and implementation of human resource manuals and workplace policies
• Conducting independent workplace investigations involving issues of compliance with appropriate workplace procedures and policies
• Engagement, termination, restructuring and redeployment of staff, including transfer of business issues.

We provide practical, down to earth and step by step strategic advice to clients in regard to managing complex and sensitive claims by employees alleging discrimination, bullying and harassment in the workplace.

Our advice and guidance covers all aspects of managing employee performance and conduct and includes:

• A detailed knowledge of relevant laws in the area of discrimination, bullying and harassment and equal opportunity
• Ensuring legal compliance of workplace policies and procedures
• Practical strategies for managing workplace grievances, resolving issues of performance management, addressing misconduct and implementing disciplinary processes
• Ensuring all disciplinary processes are supported by the correct documentation.

Our goal is to deliver to our clients a seamless service with a focus on the best individual outcomes. We will provide guidance on appropriate responses to claims, ensuring the delivery of procedural fairness throughout.

We provide advice and support across the full range of WHS legal needs to small, medium and large businesses (private, public and government owned), whether they operate on a standalone basis, or within a contracting hierarchy. Our services include:

• Front end work such as contractor management advice, statutory interpretation, compliance advice for companies, boards and management and crisis management training
• Back end work such as prosecution defence work, responding to enforcement action and contractual WHS dispute litigation
• “Pointy-end” work, namely crisis management and incident response.

We have a national team with skills and experience at various levels of seniority (and therefore cost) to provide this support, including being able to provide on-site operational support in relation to the point end work.