Rachel Bernasconi

Photo of Rachel Bernasconi

“She is magnificent: highly pragmatic and very commercial” quoted a client of Rachel’s in Chambers 2017 – enough said?

Rachel does not shy from challenges supporting employers with highly unionised workforces, with rapid technological change and whose disputes more often than not reach headlines.

With a passion for working closely with large organisations, with both blue and white collar workforces, Rachel finds people driven solutions to problems meeting strategic needs while identifying and mitigating risks.

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Firm/Organization: Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Blogs: Workplace Law & Strategy

Latest Articles

5th birthday
On 12 December 2013 Seyfarth Shaw announced our Australian offices were officially open for business. Today marks five years since those doors opened. What better way to reflect than to ask ourselves, what have been the biggest changes in our specialist areas of law over those five years? “It has become increasingly difficult to make enterprise agreements that are compliant, genuinely enterprise-focused and fit for purpose due to increasing modern award complexity combined with the…
grass
After several years of reports and recommendations, the Australian Parliament has passed the Modern Slavery Act 2018—carrying an imperative for businesses in Australia to take action on their modern slavery risks and responsibilities. Updates to the legislation The Modern Slavery Bill generated impassioned debate in both the House and Senate, passing with bipartisan support and several amendments to the legislation: Explanations for failure to comply: If the Minister is reasonably satisfied that an entity has…
equality in the workplace
This week’s data released by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) shows some modest improvements in workplace gender equality in the entities required to report to WGEA (those with 100 or more employees). There was an ever so slight increase in the proportion of women in senior management roles. And I guess the “biggest single-year drop” of 1% in the gender pay gap is something to celebrate (at least it didn’t go up!) notwithstanding that…
annual leave
It’s no secret that Australians love their annual leave. In recent years, many companies have chosen to go above and beyond minimum standards by offering extra leave – reflecting the view that rested employees are generally happier and more productive at work. Some companies even let employees decide how much leave to take. For example in 2014, Virgin Group unveiled an ‘unlimited’ annual leave policy. Our 2014 blog observed that “time would tell” if the…
alarm
Modern slavery legislation at the Commonwealth level in Australia is getting closer. The Modern Slavery Bill 2018 (Cth) passed the Lower House last week. The Opposition pushed for several amendments to the legislative framework including establishing an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner to oversee implementation and enforcement of the legislation, the introduction of penalties on companies for non-compliance with their reporting obligations, and an obligation on the Minister to report annually on compliance by reporting entities. While…
A Senate Select Committee report on the Future of Work and Workers handed down this week after a year-long inquiry, gives some insight (which is likely to be startling to most employers) into the likely Labor legislative agenda in the workplace relations space if there is a change of government at the next election. The employment and IR related recommendations from the Committee’s majority (dominated by Labor, Greens and Independents) include the following that have…
Over 40 million people around the world are trapped in conditions of modern slavery, according to research from the Walk Free Foundation and the International Labour Organization. The fight against modern slavery is fragmented. Governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and law enforcement agencies are engaged in their own fights at various levels (local, regional, national, global) with little collaboration. In increasingly globalised markets, there is growing regulatory and consumer pressure on businesses to eliminate the exploitative…
The introduction of the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Bill 2018 on 28 June 2018 sets an imperative for businesses operating in Australia to know, and show, how they are identifying and addressing the risks of modern slavery. Reporting Requirement At the centre of the Bill is the Modern Slavery Reporting Requirement: a mandatory requirement that entities based, or operating, in Australia, which have an annual consolidated revenue of more than AUD $100 million, report annually…
The NSW Parliament yesterday passed the Modern Slavery Bill 2018. It is now awaiting assent and a commencement date, however businesses should not wait and begin planning for the new obligations. Supporting regulations will follow that deal with the finer details even without these, businesses should now urgently consider whether they will be caught by this legislation and consider how they are going to meet their compliance obligations. There will be significant maximum penalties applying to…
2018 Future Enterprise
The ways we work, the structure of our businesses and the economy continue to be transformed by emerging technologies and cultural shifts. Seyfarth Shaw’s annual survey of business leaders seeks to understand how they are coping with, and adapting to, the rapidly changing landscape. From talent readiness to cybersecurity, the 2018 Future Enterprise Survey Results give a flavour for the top-of-mind issues facing our clients. Take a look at the Survey Results here and consider…