Workplace Law Conference
The workforce remains a hive of potential pitfalls for both employers and employees, as a lot can go wrong and so often does, especially with the increase of out of hours conduct impacting the employment relationship. Such behaviour is often made worse with the response of an unfair dismissal. Hear the Fair Work Commission and senior legal experts opine in the morning on recent changes and developments impacting the workforce, followed by a practical afternoon exposé on workplace investigations.
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD units including:
6.5 units in Substantive Law
0.5 unit in Professional Skills
This conference was recorded in NSW on 11 September 2018
Session 1
Workplace Conflict and Disputes
Chair: Jeffrey Phillips SC, State Chambers
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments by the Chair
9.05am to 9.25am: INSIGHTS FROM THE FAIR WORK COMMISSION: Key Note Address: Recent Changes and Developments at the Fair Work Commission
Presented by Vice President Joseph Catanzariti AM, Fair Work Commission
9.25am to 10.15am: Employment Contract Disputes: Recent Decisions
- Principles of interpretation
- Implied terms: recent decisions
- Status of HR policies
- Restraints of trade
Presented by David Cross, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright; Best Lawyers 2019, Labour and Employment Law; Leading Employment Lawyers (Employer Representation) Doyle’s Guide, 2017
10.15am to 10.30am Morning Tea
10.30am to 11.25am: Workplace Behaviour: When Out of Hours Conduct Impacts on the Employment Relationship
- Drug testing at work: Is there a right to refuse? Best practice policies and tips
- Sexual harassment: What rights to employers have to regulate work relationships?
- Social media: What can your employees say and do in their private capacity online?
- Cyberbullying: when online is in the workplace
Presented by Kathryn Dent, Director, People + Culture Strategies; Leading Employment Lawyers (Employer Representation) Doyle’s Guide, 2018
11.25am to 12.15pm: Adverse Action and General Protection: In-depth Case Studies
- Non work related injuries: domestic violence
- Flexibility
- Disability/mental illness
- Case examples
Presented by Angus Macinnis, Director of Dispute Resolution, StevensVuaran Lawyers
12.15pm to 1.10pm: ‘Blowing the Whistle’: The Implications of the Proposed Legislative Changes
- What is changing and when will these changes take effect?
- What should be in a whistleblowing policy and how should it be implemented?
- Legal compliance or best practice
- How to manage a potential whistleblowing complaint
Presented by Shivchand Jhinku, Executive Counsel, Herbert Smith Freehills
1.10pm to 1.15pm Closing Comments by Chair
Session 2
Workplace Investigations
Chair: Elizabeth Devine, Principal, Solicitor and Workplace Relations Consultant, Devine Law
2.00pm to 2.45pm: Dealing with a Complaint and Conducting a Workplace Investigation: Rights of the Employee and Employer
- Resolving the complaint and when to take it further to investigation
- Policy, contract and common law to conduct investigations: procedural fairness
- Where investigations are deemed flawed: case examples
- Dealing with evidence collected during investigations. What goes into the report?
- Statutory legal privilege: avoiding inadvertent waiver
- Case scenarios/studies
Presented by Judith Healy, Partner, JH Law
2.45pm to 3.30pm: What Comes next? The Steps Following a Workplace Investigation
- Where the investigation stops and disciplinary action starts: best course of action and communicating that to the employee
- What if the complaint was malicious: What should the employer do? What are the rights of the employee?
- What to do if the investigation uncovers a pattern of behaviour in the organisation
- The responsibility of the organisation and its board
- Disciplinary action: the importance of proportionality
- Case scenarios and practical examples
Presented by Michael Byrnes, Partner, Swaab: co-author, Annotated Fair Work Act & Related Legislation, LexisNexis
3.30pm to 3.45pm Afternoon Tea
3.45pm to 4.30pm: The Company under Investigation: Managing Rights and Responsibilities during WHS Investigations
Duty holders are the subject of rigorous investigations by the Regulator following a workplace incident. Despite this, many duty holders are still taken by surprise at what can occur during such investigations. In this session, you will cover:
- The safety regulator’s powers during an investigation
- Company, management and employee obligations during an investigation
- What can be done to protect a company, its management and employees during the investigation
- Potential consequences for a company, its management and employees after an investigation
Presented by Patrick Barry, Barrister, State Chambers: Leading Employment and Workplace Safety Barrister, SA, Doyle’s Guide 2018
Professional Skills
4.30pm to 5.15pm: Mental Illness within the Workplace and Workplace Investigations: A Psychiatrist’s Insights
- Identification issues (from management aspect)
- Pragmatic approach to dealing with the more common behavioural issues in the office environment, with examples
Presented by Dr Peter Young, Psychiatrist, Medicolegal Opinions