Overview
Our employee relations practice is regarded as Australia's premier practice in this area of law. We dedicate more than 100 legal staff in five cities to all areas of employee relations law, making ours the largest and most experienced practice in Australia.
Our team has substantial industry experience, giving us an understanding of practical and commercial industry concerns. Our employee relations practice extends beyond traditional industrial and employment law services to embrace strategic employee relations planning, workplace change facilitation and management training.
The team’s involvement in many of Australia's major industrial disputes and employment cases over the last 20 years ensures we have the resources and experience to deliver commercial advice on all aspects of employee relations.
We offer services in:
- employment law
- workplace relations
- equal opportunity, discrimination and diversity
- privacy
- occupational health and safety
- training.
Freehills’ annual workplace relations review: 2006 provides a summary of the key developments impacting managers and HR professionals, and a showcase of our work. Click here for more information.
History of our Employee Relations practice
Additional services
We offer our clients a broad range of 'value-added' services, including seminars on legal developments, newsletters and legal updates, client secondments, access to research, and access to firm facilities where appropriate.
Our employee relations practice holds seminars and lunches across a range of employee relations topics for people at varying levels of experience. In hosting these events, our aim is to provide our clients with a greater understanding of the topic discussed, and an opportunity to meet their peers within or across industries.
We regularly convene workshops with senior human resource and industrial relations professionals from some of Australia’s top companies and largest employers to discuss workplace reform.
Our electronic newsletters cover a wide range of legal areas which enable you to be conveniently updated on leading changes and the likely ramifications affecting your business.
At the end of each year we produce an Annual Workplace Relations Review, an informative and ongoing practical resource for all Australian employers. The Review highlights the major developments in employment law and workplace relations during the year, and discusses legislative and case law developments in areas such as termination of employment, equal opportunity, privacy, superannuation, occupational health and safety, industrial relations and workplace relations reform.
International legal services
We regularly work with international law firms in Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States.
We have over 30 years experience in Asia and operate Freehills’ Workplace Law & Advisory – Asia. This provides a ‘one stop shop’ for workplace legal and strategy advice across Asia and delivers the standard expected of world class workplace lawyers.
Freehills’ Workplace Law & Advisory – Asia is located in Singapore and is headed by George Cooper and John Dick. Through our Singapore office, we undertake high-level legal work for top multi-national, regional and local companies investing and operating in Asia.
We specialise in employment law, labour relations, discrimination, occupational health and safety, remuneration and benefits and privacy. Our services include:
- project management on regional workplace matters
- advising on expatriate employment issues
- employment documentation – review/standardisation, design, implementation
- workplace risk management
- workplace law compliance, and
- executive and management training in workplace law and strategy.
For further information on our Asian operation, service offering and team, click here.
History of our Employee Relations practice
Our Employee Relations practice had its foundation in the late 19th century when Thomas P Derham commenced a law firm with an 'Employer Association Practice’. Foundation clients were the Victorian Chamber of Manufacturers and the Victorian Employers Federation.
Moule Hamilton & Derham continued the firm’s role as industrial law specialists for employers with the firm being involved in many landmark basic wage cases and High Court proceedings in the years before and after the Second World War.
Under the leadership of Steve Alley, until his appointment as a Judge and Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission in 1977, the firm recruited many of the pre-eminent lawyers in industrial relations including the veteran QC Ian Douglas, the late Barry Maddern who became President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, the late Colin Polites who became a Senior Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and Dr Chris Jessup QC, who was regarded as the leading silk in the field in Australia prior to his appointment to the Federal Court.
In 1984 Moules joined Freehill Hollingdale & Page to create the first national law firm in Australia. John Colvin, Head of the Sydney office, developed the employment law and industrial practice. At the same time, Russell Allen, National Head of Practice, relocated from Melbourne to start up the Perth industrial practice.
One of our outstanding recruits who became a partner of the firm was Justice Geoffrey Giudice, the current President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. That tradition of recognising the pre-eminence of our lawyers was reinforced with the appointment of Melbourne partner, Graeme Watson, as Vice President of the AIRC in 2006.