Employment & Industrial Relations

Services and Expertise

Our Employment & Industrial Relations team provides the expertise, experience and support clients need in this ever-changing industrial relations environment.

Known for our strategic and pragmatic approach, we work closely with our clients to ensure their workplace structures and strategies support their overall business objectives. We guide our clients through changes to the law and help them implement 'best practice', safe and cost effective workplace systems and procedures. We offer a national service, regularly advising on employment and industrial relations issues arising in jurisdictions throughout Australia.

Through our involvement in Cornwall Stodart's specialist industry groups, our Employment & Industrial Relations team also has a genuine understanding of key industries, including retail, healthcare, transport and logistics, construction, reconstruction and insolvency, and banking and finance. We understand the key industrial relations issues and trends impacting our clients in these sectors.

Areas of Legal Expertise

We advise employers of all sizes (whether operating solely within Victoria, across Australia or internationally) in all aspects of employment and industrial relations.

Our expertise covers:

• drafting and negotiating enterprise agreements, tailored to the client's needs
• advising on all aspects of an investigation into and prosecution for breach of OHS legislation, drafting OHS policies and providing targeted training on those policies
• drafting employment contracts, from pro forma documents to executive contracts
• advising on all aspects of transfer of business
• guiding clients through disciplinary and other internal proceedings
• defending breach of contract, unlawful termination and unfair dismissal claims
• providing representation at relevant courts and tribunals
• developing HR policies and procedures covering all aspects of the employment relationship, including EEO, bullying, electronic communications, discipline and counselling, whistleblowing, work-from-home and codes of conduct, as well as providing training in these areas
• advising on the use of social media and related issues
• advice on, drafting and enforcement of post employment restraints
• handling all employment related litigation arising out of, for example, breach of contract and reasonable notice claims
• helping clients understand industrial awards, including their interpretation and coverage
• all matters involving the Fair Work Ombudsman
• advising and representing clients in safety incidents and prosecutions

• advising and assisting international clients to navigate their way through Australian employment and industrial relations law.

Additional Services

As well as legal services, we offer our clients a range of complementary services including:

• a 'helpline' service providing telephone advice and information
• regular email updates regarding relevant changes to the law
• on-site training targeted at management and staff on issues impacting our clients' organisations

• assisting with the management of relationships and issues with various stakeholders, including workers, unions, WorkSafe representatives, regulators, customers, suppliers and service providers.

Team Strength

As with all our teams, we draw on substantial resources from around the firm to manage large projects and tight timeframes.

Experience

Members of our team have recently been involved in the following matters:

• defending unfair dismissal claims in Fair Work Australia (and in its predecessor, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission) for clients in a range of industries
• advising on disability discrimination and guiding a client through disciplinary proceedings and termination of employment
• advising an employer in a harassment matter, and providing representation at conciliations as well as hearings
• advising a national retailer on an investigation into health and safety matters and representing the retailer in a subsequent prosecution
• acting in injunctive proceedings for a client that sought to enforce a post termination restraint
• reviewing existing employment contracts and advising a national employer on how these interrelate with industrial awards and legislation. This advice included providing the employer with a future strategy to streamline the terms and conditions of employment applicable to its workforce by entering into a collective enterprise agreement
• following this review we worked with our client to draft and negotiate a complex enterprise agreement that not only met our client's needs and objectives throughout Australia, but was also acceptable to the Union involved
• drafting stand-alone employment contracts for employees (some containing complex long term incentive structures) and service agreements for contractors. We regularly advise on the legal differences between employees and contractors, including the specific obligations on the employer/principal depending on the structure used
• advising employers in the mining and extractive industries on legislation that applies to owner drivers. This has involved drafting and amending contracts with owner drivers in accordance with the legislative provisions that apply to this group of workers, and negotiating with the Transport Workers Union in relation to the terms of such contracts
• advising on which awards apply to a particular workforce, as well as advising on the terms in those awards. In one case we defended an employer against a class action brought by a Union regarding the interpretation of the term in the award that dealt with shift allowances
• advising a national employer on the award modernisation process and how the terms of the applicable new modern award will be phased in. This has involved complex calculations and interpretation of how the new modern award will operate in practice, enabling us to give the employer a breakdown of the steps it must take to comply with the new system.