EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL LAW

Types of cases our members can handle for individuals in Employment and Industrial Law
as it is an area quite broad in its scope include:

• Unfair dismissal claims

• Helping defend employee clients subject to disciplinary procedures

• Unlawful termination claims (where the termination of employment is based on a prohibited ground such as sex, race, age, disability etc)

• Breach of employment contract cases, such as failure to give reasonable notice, failing to pay bonuses etc

• Restraint of trade disputes (e.g. employee restrained from working for a competitor after termination of employment or from misusing confidential information)

• Claims for unpaid employee entitlements, such as underpayment of award wages, superannuation, leave entitltements etc

• Unlawful discrimination claims in the workplace, such as sex discrimination, sexual harassment, disability discrimination, etc

• Unfair contract claims for independent contractors

• Reviewing employment contracts for employee clients to help them understand them and negotiate more favourable terms

• Claims under the Trade Practices Act and/or Fair Trading Act where the employee alleges they were misled in relation to the terms or availability or any other matter relating to the employment

This is not exhaustive but covers the bulk of our members can do. There are Frequent enquiries about 'workplace bullying'; workplace bullying is not a specific cause of action under the general law, but often an argument can be mounted that the employer has acted unlawfully in bullying the employee or permitting it to occur, such as where the bullying has taken place for a reason which includes the person's sex, family responsibilities or disability. Often the employer will have written policies and procedures which specifically prohibit bullying and if those policies are incorporated into the contract for employment, there could be a breach of contract case.