Current practice
Chris Gardner is a partner in the Freehills Employee Relations group.
Experience
Chris provides legal and strategic advice in employment and industrial relations matters including:
- enterprise bargaining strategies
- labour-related litigation
- industrial disputation
- employment law advice/litigation
- business restructures, and
- in/out-sourcings.
- labour-related sale/purchase of business issues.
His close association with clients has seen Chris develop a reputation for having a strong understanding of client needs and providing pragmatic, solution-orientated advice.
Chris’ industry experience is wide-spread. His clients operate in a range of sectors including telecommunications, logistics, mining, construction, manufacturing and maritime and has a particular passion for enterprise bargaining.
From March 1999 to October 2000 Chris was seconded to Telstra as its Industrial and Employee Relations Counsel, where he was responsible for the management of Telstra’s industrial relations and employee relations legal matters.
Chris has been at the forefront of the new bargaining laws having conducted research on the US good faith bargaining laws and advising employers involved in bargaining issues since July 2009.
Professional background
Chris holds a degree in both Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics from Monash University and is a member of the Australian Human Resources Institute and the Industrial Relations Society of Victoria.
He is a contributing author to:
- The Workplace Relations Handbook (1st and 2nd editions), Butterworths, and
- An Introduction to the Industrial Relations Reforms, Butterworths (2006).
He is a regular speaker, including at the 11th World HR Congress in Singapore and more recently in respect of the implications of good faith bargaining including on Foxtel’s Law TV.
As one of Australia’s leading workplace relations lawyers, he features in the Best Lawyers International for Labour and Employment (2008), (2009) and (2010) and Chambers Global Leading Lawyers 2010.
Useful Resources
Where is productivity bargaining in Australia?
In this article, first published in
Human Capital Magazine, Chris Gardner argues that the need for a focus on genuine productivity bargaining underscored by a genuine desire by all parties has never been greater.
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Webinar: Seven crucial bargaining issues under Fair Work
Learn about the seven most important bargaining issues under the Fair Work Act that you should consider when developing your collective bargaining strategy, from Freehills partner and enterprise bargaining expert Chris Gardner in this informative webinar.
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Bargaining laws demand more sophistication from employers: Lawyer
The new workplace laws coming into effect next week will facilitate a ‘maturing’ of collective bargaining in Australia and require employers to be much more sophisticated in their approach to negotiations, according to workplace lawyer Chris Gardner.
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Enterprise bargaining – invest or wither
Labour cost typically represents the largest proportion of total operating costs. In many organisations, one or more enterprise agreements yields this cost outcome. This year thousands of enterprise agreements will be renegotiated, at a time when employers desperately need labour while confronting inflationary pressure.
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Law TV with Chris Gardner
Chris Gardner talks to Law TV and offers advice on opportunities created by Fair Work Australia.
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