New compliance requirements are coming. Starting from 1 July 2026 you may be asked to provide additional identity, ownership or source of funds documentation when working with us. Find out why here.
Our Employment Lawyers assist both employers and employees with a broad range of workplace issues.
We advise and assist clients in relation to Employment Contracts, workplace rights and general protections under the Fair Work Act, Modern Awards and Enterprise Agreements, Workplace Policies, performance management and terminations, unfair dismissal claims and employment related disputes.
We help Employers to protect their interests and Employees to enforce their rights.
We understand and value the importance our clients place on establishing and maintaining cohesive, constructive employment relationships and safe working environments.
In an area of law that is constantly changing we provide you with clear, concise, practical and timely legal advice to enable you to make informed employment decisions and manage workplace risks and incidents.
An unfair dismissal occurs where an employee is dismissed from their job and the dismissal is harsh, unjust or unreasonable.
The employee/employer relationship is extremely complex and typically involves the employer placing a great amount of trust in the employee from an early stage.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has released a new Fixed Term Contract Information Statement (FTCIS) that must be provided to all employees engaged on fixed term contracts. This new requirement follows recent changes to the additional fixed term contract exceptions.
A groundbreaking decision by the High Court of Australia in Elisha v Vision Australia Limited [2024] HCA 50 (Elisha) has set a new precedent by allowing damages for psychiatric injuries caused by an employer’s breach of contract.
The law relating to unfair dismissal claims is contained in the Fair Work Act 2009. Unfair dismissal claims are commenced by filing an Unfair Dismissal Application with the Fair Work Commission. However, an Application can only be made within 21 calendar days of the date the dismissal takes effect.
This article is the third part in our series on the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill 2022 (‘the Bill’) and focuses on the amendments to enterprise bargaining and agreements.
This article is the second part in our series on the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill 2022 (‘the Bill’) and focuses on the amendments to the building and construction industry and addresses the considerations for employers in this industry.
This article is the first part in our series on the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill 2022 (‘the Bill’) and focuses on what the changes mean for employers.
It is critical for all parties to a sale of business transaction to understand their legal rights and obligations in relation to existing employees of the business and the financial cost of termination and/or transferring of employment.
Redundancy occurs when an employer no longer requires an employee’s job to be performed by anyone because of changes in the operational requirements of the business and consultation with the employee has occurred.
Based on my experiences dealing with employee related claims and disputes, find out my top 3 tips for employers wishing to avoid legal problems relating to their employees.
Since 1 October 2018, most casual employees have been entitled to request their employment status be converted to full time or part time status where certain requirements are met and an employer cannot refuse the request unless it has reasonable grounds to do so.
Your Initial Consultation is an important opportunity for you to ask questions, get on-the-spot answers and experience what it will be like to work with us if you need further assistance. Your Solicitor will help you to understand the laws and legal issues relevant to your situation, applicable legal processes, your prospects of success in relation to a dispute and the course of action you should take.
You may not always get the advice you want to hear, but you’ll always get the advice you need to hear.
You may attend your appointment by phone, videoconference or in person at our offices.
If you need further legal help following your Initial Consultation, you may engage us to advise and represent you generally in relation to your matter or request a second appointment and provide copies of any relevant documentation you would like us to review beforehand.
Money held in our Trust Amount on your behalf is Trust Money. Trust Money and Trust Accounts are regulated by the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) and the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 (“the Legal Profession Uniform Laws”).
When asking for Trust Money we use the terms Initial Trust Amount and Next Stage Trust Amounts to help clients more easily understand the nature and purpose for which we require the payment of money into our Trust Account.
A Trust Account is a bank account in which we hold Trust Money on your behalf. Most law firms use a Trust Account to manage the payment of legal costs, and to receive and hold Trust Money on behalf of clients.
It is our Firm Policy that we hold sufficient Trust Money at any time to cover our estimated costs and disbursements for each stage of work that we perform.
Payment of the Initial Trust Amount and Next Stage Trust Amounts also guarantees your understanding of our estimates of costs for each stage of work and provides us with assurance that you are willing to proceed on that basis.
The Initial Trust Amount and Next Stage Trust Amounts are based on our estimates of the costs and disbursements to be incurred in the completion of the initial or next stage of work in your matter, or over the course of the next calendar month, where there is no clearly defined stage.
The Initial Trust Amount is payable upon you entering into a Legal Services Agreement with us. As your matter progresses, if requested, you are required to pay Next Stage Trust Amounts within seven (7) days of a request.
As your matter progresses, we may determine it appropriate to “protect” Trust Money for a particular purpose (e.g. for payment of Barristers’ fees or Expert Witness expenses). Protected Trust Money cannot be transferred towards payment of our Tax Invoices.
Whether an amount is marked as protected is at our discretion.
We may suspend work in relation to your matter and/or terminate our Legal Services Agreement if:
When we render a Tax Invoice we will inform you of the Next Stage Trust Amount (if any) and account for the Trust Amount held at the time when asking you for payment. This may include:
To streamline our processes and avoid confusion, unless we are rendering a final Tax Invoice or there is no immediate next stage of work, we will endeavour to minimise the amount of Trust Transfer requests that we seek when rendering a Tax Invoice. Our Invoice emails will clearly stipulate the amount(s) payable to our Office Account and/or Trust Account in relation to our Tax Invoices and Next Stage Trust Amounts (where applicable); or the Trust Money transfer authorisation sought. Please read these emails carefully.
The Legal Profession Uniform Laws governs when we can withdraw your money from our Trust Account. Generally, we can only withdraw the money:
Law firms have a common law lien (security) over Trust Money for the payment of their costs and disbursements. If you provide us with a direction to pay or deal with Trust Money held on your behalf, we will comply with your directions subject to any lien we have.
Your money remains on deposit in our Trust Account. The relevant Rules prevent us from holding money in our Trust Account over an extended period. Therefore, we will refund any amount held in excess of the Next Stage Trust Amount to you on your request and the balance at the end of your matter.
Our Trust Account is an account with ANZ Bank. We must deposit Trust Money we receive to this account and give you a receipt for your deposit as soon as practicable. The amount that you have paid into our Trust Account is then recorded against your name and your file number.
We are required to give you a Trust Account Statement at certain intervals and on your request.
You will be notified of any withdrawals that we make from your Trust Account and they must be clearly recorded against your file. Our Trust Account (and all general trust accounts) are not interest-bearing accounts and large sums should therefore not be left deposited for extended periods.
The NSW Law Society’s Trust Account Department has the responsibility for examining records maintained by law practices to ensure they properly account for the Trust Money received and which is held on behalf of another person. This firm has been randomly audited on a number of occasions by the Trust Account Department of the Law Society and has an exemplary history of Trust Account compliance.
Each year, an independent auditor is appointed to inspect our Trust accounting records. We must present our Trust ledgers for the applicable period and provide documentary evidence of any transactions that the auditor selects for investigation.
Regardless of the amount of time funds have been held in our Trust Account, and provided that reasonable efforts have been made to locate the owner of Trust Money, unclaimed Trust Money may be surrendered to Revenue NSW in accordance with the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014. Should the owner then require the return of the funds, they will need to lodge a request directly with Revenue NSW.
