More than ever, there is a growing expectation on organisations (including their boards and senior leaders) to have sound practices in place for receiving and responding to workplace and safety concerns and complaints.
Employment-related disputes, allegations of misconduct and safety incidents arise in many workplaces.
These issues can have serious ramifications for the individuals involved and for the organisation, its executive team, and board. Depending on the nature of the issue, these matters may pose significant legal and reputational risk.
Organisations are frequently facing issues including:
- Bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment complaints
- General workplace misconduct complaints
- Whistleblower disclosures
- Accountability for organisational failings (such as breaches of law or regulatory obligations)
- Safety incidents and crisis management
We guide clients through investigations into allegations of breach of workplace misconduct, bullying and harassment (including sexual harassment), whistleblower disclosures and accountability failings as well as advising on appropriate disciplinary outcomes, workplace culture reviews and remediation of identified compliance concerns. We also assist clients in the management of critical safety incidents and engagement with regulatory authorities.
We provide a seamless and integrated national service to assist your organisation determine the right response to the most challenging situations offering sensitive, pragmatic and timely advice and solutions.
Our integrated team of specialists has diverse experience advising on some of Australia’s most complex matters.
We can:
- Conduct workplace and safety investigations
- Instruct and coordinate third party investigators to conduct investigations
- Advise on the conduct of investigations including any findings and potential disciplinary outcomes, exposure to legal risk including penalties and regulator engagement.
- Provide workplace training to assist your team conduct workplace investigations
- Undertake workplace policy reviews and compliance assessments
- Assist with establishing bespoke framework materials, including policies, procedures, templates, plans, governance documents and protocols
Market highlights:
- Australian-headquartered corporate client and Big Four Bank: several complex and sensitive employee whistleblower matters including litigation commenced by the whistleblowers.
- Big Four Bank: investigation into payment obligations and review of the bank’s payroll system.
- Australian-headquartered corporate client: confidential and legally privileged investigation into alleged bullying and other misconduct by a senior employee.
- Australian-headquartered corporate client: confidential and legally privileged investigation into alleged sexual harassment.
- International mining company: investigation into a work related fatalities and interactions with the Regulator.
- International mining company: on its interactions with the Regulator in regard to an investigation for alleged breaches of the WHS laws involving psychosocial hazards and controls.
