Workplace Relations for businesses in the mid-market is a critical and dynamic area. As well as having a deep understanding of the various Acts and legislation in this area, Madgwicks Lawyers also understand the sometimes strategic and tactical way these laws can be interpreted, applied and disputed.
There are generally two approaches to Workplace Relations law: an ‘upstream’ approach that includes providing advice on taking preventative steps, reviewing current compliance with relevant regulations and the drafting of preventative and risk-mitigating policies.
The alternative is a ‘downstream’ approach where actions are taken after-the-fact and include responding to incidents and subsequent investigations, mediation of disputes and representation in inquests, court proceedings or prosecutions.
Our comprehensive experience across both engagement types will be of benefit to you and your business, and has been gained from a number of very significant and high-profile cases with favourable outcomes for employers.
Services
Industrial relations
- Enterprise bargaining
- Industrial disputes
- Industrial workplace strategies
- Workplace rights and adverse action litigation
- Union right of entry
- Picketing
Employment law
- Advice about, and drafting of employment agreements including for executive employees
- Confidential information and intellectual property
- Termination of employment - advice and defence of claims (including adverse action and unfair dismissal)
- Misleading and deceptive conduct
- Workplace policies
Fair Work Commission
- Representation and advisory on mediations, hearings and disputes
Independent contractors
- Structuring arrangements
- Drafting of contractor agreements
- Advice regarding liabilities
Workers compensation
- Advising on impact to premiums and claims processes
- Disputing claim acceptance
Restraint of trade
- Restraint of trade advice
- Enforcement of restraints
Anti-discrimination and equal opportunity
- Unlawful discrimination, bullying and harassment disputes
- Flexible work practices and workplace diversity policy development
Workplace mediation
- Acting as mediator in workplace disputes
- Representing employers at mediation
- Providing alternative dispute resolution strategies
Workplace training
- Appropriate workplace behaviours
- Training to ensure effective internal processes and approaches, including as to dismissal processes and internal workplace investigations
- Conducting Health and Safety training from employee level to board level
- Training to ensure general workplace legal compliance
- Updates on new developments in the law
Occupational Health & Safety
- Risk management
- Drug and alcohol testing, and associated issues
- Defending OH&S prosecutions
Business transfer and mergers
- Strategic workplace change and restructuring management
- Redundancy management and advisory
- Business restructuring (including taxation), outsourcing and insourcing
- Culture and change management and policy implementation
- Employer obligations upon transfer of business
- Employee entitlements upon transfer of business
- Advising on transferable instruments
Workplace investigations
- Internal investigations
- Privileged investigations
- Investigations by statutory authorities
- Employee fraud/white collar crime investigations
