Workplace Relations

Everything we do is geared to helping our clients obtain the workplace relations results they need to achieve the business results they want - whether these are focused on setting new standards of excellence in enterprise agreements or complying with current regulations.

We take a pragmatic, commercial view and have an excellent track record of resolving problems quickly and cleanly. Our clients' reputation and standing in the community as good employers are always top of mind.

Everything you need

Our services range from resolving industrial disputes and negotiating collective agreements through to defending unfair dismissal, discrimination and sexual harassment claims and drafting individual contracts. They are delivered by a highly specialised and experienced team with an excellent record of successfully representing employers in courts and industrial tribunals.

No ivory towers

By visiting sites, meeting the key people and observing work practices first hand, we gain a detailed understanding of your work culture and history. This enables us to get to the heart of issues faster and resolve them more effectively. When problems do arise, we can provide quick answers and resolutions. Access to our partners is always easy and our services are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Always plan ahead

Rarely does the phrase 'prevention is better than cure' have more relevance than in workplace relations. The knowledge and assistance we provide at the front end ensure that as events unfold they remain shaped in line with business objectives, and are not swept out of control.

We always take the longer term view, steering clients away from potential traps. Protecting your business, for example, by ensuring that contracts have sound exit strategies.

Ahead of the game

We ensure our clients are well informed on topical issues and market developments. For example, before and during negotiations, we advise clients on new initiatives and approaches that are gaining acceptance in the market, and alternative options and trade-offs that can be brought to the negotiating table.

A range of on-site compliance training and education programs are available to clients to ensure their people know what is required of them and have the tools to comply. Regular employment health checks can be used to verify whether client organisations are compliant on issues such as awards, contracts and superannuation, and raise red warning flags where problems may be brewing.

Across Australia and beyond

With strong practices in all key states, we have the detailed local knowledge required to provide expert advice and legal services wherever our clients need us. At the same time, our national perspective enables clients to benefit from a unified national approach to their workplace relations strategies and activities.

Our partners are regularly sought to work on cross-border disputes; utilising their knowledge across local government and international issues and negotiating with international based union bodies and employer associations. This is of particular value to clients whose workplace relations issues go beyond Australia's borders and those whose businesses may be impacted by unions collaborating internationally.

Our services

• strategic industrial relations advice – aligning workplace relations plans with business strategy
• industrial dispute resolution
• collective agreements
• award and agreement preparation and interpretation
• individual contracts - common law and Australian workplace agreements
• policy formulation
• employment advice - general workplace relations law advice to public and private sector
• defence of unfair dismissal and unfair contract claims
• anti-discrimination issues management - from implementing equal opportunity policy to defending complaints of disability discrimination
• OH&S education and defending prosecutions
• alternative contracts and agreements - non-traditional solutions including contractors and other flexible work arrangements
• advocacy - representing employers before courts and industrial tribunals at state and federal level
• performance management and restructuring and redundancy processes
• tailored management and employee training programs

• Civil Construction & Infrastructure Update

  Deacons have pooled our experience and knowledge of the unique aspects of the civil construction industry sector to bring you this informative update covering a wide range of topics relating to construction contracts, workplace relations, safety and more.

  18 Nov 08 Michael Hammond, Stuart Kollmorgen, Jeffrey Wilson

• Deacons in the press: Demand for redundancy assistance on the rise

  Western Australian businesses may still have critical skills shortages to deal with, but in the current climate of uncertainty many employers are also looking for legal advice to potentially downsize their workforce, reports WA Business News, 13 November 2008.

  13 Nov 08 Kate Alexander, Maria Saraceni

• Legal update: National OHS Review Report Released

  The National OHS Review Panel ‘National Review into Model Occupational Health and Safety Laws First Report’ (the Report) was tabled at the Workplace Relations’ Ministers Council meeting yesterday.

  6 Nov 08 Michael Tooma , Alena Titterton

• Deacons in the press: Sex harassment proves a murky minefield to define

  As workers navigate their way through a host of Christmas parties, starting as early as November on the back of the inebrious spring racing carnival, Deacons workplace relations partner Stuart Kollmorgen gives some sobering advice, reports The Age, 3 November 2008.

  3 Nov 08 Kate Alexander, Stuart Kollmorgen

• Newsletter: Franchising Focus - October 2008

  Welcome to the October issue of Franchising Focus. In this issue we examine: Proven franchise concepts in new markets: misleading conduct and the effect of contractual disclaimers; New bargaining rights for employees in low-paid industries; Updating Disclosure Documents and Preparing Financial Statements for Marketing Funds; and Are you meeting your legal compliance training obligations?

  30 Oct 08 Stuart Kollmorgen, Tamra Seaton, Mathew Webster , David Natenzon and Andrew Terry

• Deacons in the press: Spring Racing Carnival horsing around at a cost

  Deacons' workplace relations partner Stuart Kollmorgen warns that rules that cover employees at work extend to the track if they attend in a corporate capacity, reports the Herald Sun, 29 October 2008.

  29 Oct 08 Kate Alexander, Stuart Kollmorgen

• Media release: You can lose more than just your shirt at the races

  Workers attending corporate events during this year’s Spring racing carnival need to be aware the laws that apply in the office may also hold in the company marquee---or even the members’ car park.

  28 Oct 08 Stuart Kollmorgen, Paul McKeon

• Deacons in the press: Victorian spring carnival: a breeding ground for misconduct

  With the Victorian spring carnival just around the corner, Deacons workplace relations partner Stuart Kollmorgen reminds employers that the entertainment venue, as far as the law is concerned, is an extension of the workplace, reports ALB Online, 22 October 2008.

  24 Oct 08 Kate Alexander, Stuart Kollmorgen

• Deacons in the press: Companies face executive crunch

  Deacons' latest "Workplace Pulse" survey has revealed that only 4 per cent of employers individually tailor employment contracts for their senior executives, reports Lawyers Weekly, 16 October 2008.

  16 Oct 08 Kate Alexander, David Cross

• Media release: Economic turmoil will expose lax executive contracts: Deacons’ study

  Contractual arrangements between corporations and their senior executives may be harshly tested in the fall-out of the current global economic crisis, according to law firm Deacons which recently surveyed managers with responsibility for human resource issues in Australian companies.

  7 Oct 08 Kate Alexander, David Cross