Practice · 07
Employment and workplace
Most employment disputes are decided by what was written down a year earlier. Or not written down.
For employers building a workplace that holds together, and for employees when it does not.
The work
Employment law in Australia is mostly federal, mostly in the Fair Work Act and the awards, and mostly about process. An employer who gets the contract, the policy and the process right can manage almost any situation. One who does not ends up at the Fair Work Commission explaining a decision that felt obvious at the time.
On the employer side the practice drafts and reviews contracts, contractor agreements, restraints and policies, advises on performance management, terminations and redundancies before they happen, runs workplace investigations, and responds when a claim arrives. On the employee side it advises on contracts and restraints, negotiates exits, and brings unfair dismissal, general protections, discrimination and underpayment claims.
Fixed fees for contracts, policies and reviews. Commission matters are quoted stage by stage, with the conciliation stage fixed and the hearing stage estimated in writing.
This work includes
- Employment contracts
- Contractor agreements and the employee test
- Restraints of trade
- Workplace policies
- Awards, classification and pay
- Performance management and termination
- Redundancy and restructures
- Workplace investigations
- Unfair dismissal and general protections
- Discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment
- Underpayment claims
- Fair Work Commission conciliations and hearings
- Settlement deeds and releases
How it usually runs
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For employers: the documents first
A contract that reflects the award, the role and the restraint you actually need; policies that are followed rather than filed; and a termination process that will stand up if it is ever tested. Most employer trouble traces back to one of those three.
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When a dispute starts, the clock matters
An unfair dismissal or general protections claim must be lodged with the Fair Work Commission within 21 days of the dismissal. That is short. Whichever side you are on, the first conversation is about dates.
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The Commission, not the court
Most employment disputes are resolved at conciliation or mediation. The practice represents employers and employees before the Fair Work Commission, and in anti-discrimination and human rights commission processes, through to a hearing where one is needed.
Where the line is
- The Fair Work Commission, the NSW and federal anti-discrimination bodies and similar commissions are tribunals, and the practice appears in them. A matter that goes on to a court, such as a general protections claim that does not settle at the Commission, moves to a litigator on the panel with the file prepared.
- The practice acts for employers and for employees, never both sides of the same workplace.
- Workers compensation claims are not part of the practice.
Nobody pays anybody for a referral here, in either direction. How the practice hands work on →
Common questions
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I was dismissed last week. How long do I have?
Twenty-one days from the day the dismissal took effect, for both an unfair dismissal application and a general protections claim involving dismissal. The Commission extends that only in exceptional circumstances, so treat the deadline as fixed. Send the termination letter and your contract as soon as you can and the dates get worked out first.
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Are my restraint of trade clauses enforceable?
Only to the extent a court would find them reasonable to protect a real business interest, which in practice means restraints written to frighten are often unenforceable and restraints written carefully often hold. NSW has its own legislation that lets a court read a restraint down rather than strike it out. The drafting matters more than the length of the clause.
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We want to let someone go. What is the safe way?
There is no perfectly safe way, but there is a defensible one: a valid reason, a genuine process, the person told and given a chance to respond, and a decision that follows the evidence. Redundancy has its own rules, including consultation under most awards. A short call before the meeting, rather than after it, is the cheapest employment advice there is.
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Is my contractor really a contractor?
The written contract matters, but since 2024 the Fair Work Act looks at the real substance and practical reality of the relationship rather than the label on it, and a contractor who works like an employee brings award, leave and superannuation exposure with them. The practice reviews the arrangement and the agreement together and tells you which side of the line it sits on, and what to change if that is the wrong side.
Often sits beside this
Make an enquiry
Send a short note about what is happening. You will hear back within one business day, and there is no charge for finding out whether the matter is a fit.