Workplace Law & Strategy

Insights. Advice. New Thinking.

March 26, 2021

The original idea A worker stands at the gates of the docks hoping for work. The boss approaches the fence separating dozens of huge containers from those milling outside wanting to unload them. “30 workers!” is the call. The first 30 file inside, heads counted as they pass; a day’s work in front of them. There are no guarantees for tomorrow, just as there were none yesterday, but at least today is taken care of.…

Workplace Law & Strategy

Taking eyes off the ball? Perception and tolerance of critical safety risks during a global pandemic

By Sarah Goodhew & Nick Neil

March 16, 2021

During the Australian summer, media reports have documented a tragic spike in drownings at unpatrolled Australian beaches, as people search for remote swimming spots they might not normally use during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of swimming lessons – a rite of passage to a core element of Australian life — have also been missed during the pandemic and associated lockdowns. These statistics call up a related question about the ongoing effects of the COVID-19…

Workplace Law & Strategy

The gig economy – a new category of worker on the horizon?

By Michael Tamvakologos & Amanda Cavanough

January 21, 2021

Over five years ago, in 2015 we wrote a thought piece about the “gig economy” and where it might be headed. Given the gig economy was then only emerging as a part of the broader economy, the impacts, positive and negative, were not yet known. However, we observed that there was potential for workers and employers to successfully leverage technology as a complement or substitute for traditional ways of working. In 2017, our colleague Ben…

Workplace Law & Strategy

When bad facts make bad law: the impact of regulator discretion on health and safety outcomes

By Penny Stevens & Nick Neil

November 27, 2020

Some time ago, we queried whether punitive enforcement action against duty holders was the best approach for improving health and safety outcomes for Australian workers. Since then, Australian Parliaments have been busy creating yet more offences for the statute books, that carry even more serious penalties. Industrial manslaughter is just one example. Cynics might interpret this as an attempt by Australian Governments to “be seen to be doing something” in respect of high work-related traumatic …

Workplace Law & Strategy

Leading health and safety partner Penny Stevens joins Seyfarth

By Tim Griffin

September 14, 2020

Seyfarth is excited to announce that Penny Stevens has joined the firm as a partner in Melbourne. Penny is a leading health and safety lawyer with more than 25 years’ experience advising on all aspects of work health and safety and criminal law. Penny is known nationally for her expertise in both proactive risk mitigation as well as responding when an incident has occurred. Clients turn to Penny when it matters for representation and advice…

Workplace Law & Strategy

Mental health awareness and innovation – a silver lining?

By Paul Cutrone & Amanda Cavanough

June 25, 2020

The novel coronavirus pandemic has put a spotlight on the mental health of workers. The crisis posed immediate and acute challenges for organisations and workers. In an extremely short period of time, we have all had to navigate periods of isolation and loss of social interactions, new ways of working, constantly changing health messages and much more. The situation is unprecedented in our lifetime. One “silver lining” of the crisis, however, seems to be an…

Workplace Law & Strategy

Coaching emerging leaders during COVID-19

By Ben Dudley & Lauren Crossman

May 28, 2020

The Prime Minister has recently made an announcement about the process of “re-opening” the Australian economy, and a critical part of that being retraining and investment in skills development. Chris Gardner has also touched on the importance of HR in a crisis. This gave us reason to ask whether, even though some employers are going to need to be focussed on simply surviving, this might be a perfect opportunity to identify and target development of…

Workplace Law & Strategy

HR rises in crises

By Chris Gardner

May 26, 2020

We work with human resources professionals everyday, and at all levels. They have been at the forefront of dealing with the most dramatic change of our time felt directly in the workplace. Overnight, most employers have had to confront not only change but the question of how growth, if not survival will look from here. This reality remains for most. The role of HR has been key for employers who depend on the discipline. As…

Workplace Law & Strategy

Enterprise bargaining in the new world

By Chris Gardner

May 14, 2020

As you will recall, the view of many is that enterprise bargaining in Australia has run its course. Essentially the view is that there’s little incentive for an employer to bargain (beyond avoiding harm to the business through a tumultuous bargaining campaign) nor for employees who, for some time, have only managed to extract very modest pay increases. Modest wage growth has been a feature for some years as shown below (and note, by the…

Workplace Law & Strategy

The challenge of compliance: part 2

By Chris Gardner

February 24, 2020

Last week I declared that most cases of employee underpayments are inadvertent and that businesses, especially large employers, are working on compliance measures. Subsequently, we have seen more reports of underpayments by large employers. These are businesses who are conducting audits, reviewing their processes, and rectifying inadvertent errors. This is not wage-theft. They are doing the very things “asked” of them and are being pilloried nonetheless. Here’s a shortlist, by no means comprehensive, of what…

Workplace Law & Strategy

Insights. Advice. New Thinking.

Blog Authors

The evolution of casual employment regulation

Taking eyes off the ball? Perception and tolerance of critical safety risks during a global pandemic

The gig economy – a new category of worker on the horizon?

When bad facts make bad law: the impact of regulator discretion on health and safety outcomes

Leading health and safety partner Penny Stevens joins Seyfarth

Mental health awareness and innovation – a silver lining?

Coaching emerging leaders during COVID-19

HR rises in crises

Enterprise bargaining in the new world

The challenge of compliance: part 2

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