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Industrial Relations

Australian Business Lawyers is uniquely placed to assist clients with industrial issues. In particular, our work in maintaining over 250 awards on behalf of the members of the New South Wales Business Chamber means that we can provide a comprehensive service to our clients.

We offer our clients a range of legal services in this area including:

Employment Relations Planning Services

We assist clients with these matters in a variety of ways. For example, we assist clients to establish and implement an initial employee relations plan to help manage the employment relations challenges for new businesses or businesses undergoing substantial change. More often, we provide assistance to in-house human resource and employment relations specialists to maintain and revise employment relations strategies, policies and procedures.

We also offer workplace audits, which provide a valuable diagnostic tool to human resource managers and employment relations specialists.

 
Enterprise Bargaining

We assist clients with enterprise bargaining through:

• Development of enterprise agreement goals
• Formulation of negotiation plans
• Negotiation of agreements
• Handling of disputation during negotiations
• Drafting of enterprise agreements
• Registration of agreements

Underpayment and Award Compliance Issues

Our staff have substantial experience assessing and defending allegations by employees and trade unions of the underpayment of employment entitlements. Our experience allows us to respond in a cost effective manner to underpayment claims. Our services in this area include:

• Determining the application of awards and agreements to particular businesses/workplaces
• Undertaking workplace audits to determine whether time and wage systems comply with legal requirements
• Advising on allegations of underpayment, including determining assessments of potential liability towards employees
• Appearing in industrial tribunals in response to allegations of underpayment of entitlements
• Assisting employers to defend proceedings for the recovery of alleged underpayments

Disputes arise in a range of circumstances, whether it be in the course of enterprise bargaining negotiations, or otherwise. We have significant experience in assisting clients to resolve disputes by negotiation, conciliation and arbitration.

We also have substantial experience advising and assisting employers to resist unlawful industrial action through proceedings in courts and tribunals.

Our broad experience as both lawyers and industrial relations advisers across many industries allows us to obtain commercially prudent resolutions to industrial problems.

If you require advice or assistance regarding any of these matters, please contact one of our Partners:

Tim Capelin, Managing Partner
John Stanton, Partner
Tony Vernier, Partner

Australian Business Lawyers provides specialist workplace training providing high quality training solutions in all areas of workplace law, including industrial relations.

We also specialise in the provision of legal services in employment law, discrimination law, corporate and commercial law and occupational health and safety. The combined expertise of our team allows us to understand and advise on the complex legal problems that our clients may face.