Helen is an experienced advocate and litigator in employment and industrial relations disputes.
She regularly advises on employee-related issues associated with business transactions, including potential underpayment claims.
She is frequently asked to conduct sensitive workplace investigations, with considerable experience as a workplace investigator.
Helen provides succinct advice that has regard to industrial and commercial realities, as well as employee engagement - an approach honed by her time working in-house at Suncorp, BHP and BAE Systems Australia.
Experience
Helen has experience in:
- managing unfair dismissal and adverse action claims, including representing clients in conciliation conferences and settling claims
- representing clients in disputes under enterprise agreements
- managing payroll reviews, investigations by the Fair Work Ombudsman and associated remediation exercises
- advising on award coverage and updating contracts of employment to align with award provisions
- investigating highly sensitive workplace complaints
- urgent applications in response to industrial action
- drafting enterprise agreements and advising on approval processes and bargaining strategy
- representing clients in disputes concerning post-employment restraints, including advising on Anton Piller orders
- advising on the "golden handshake" provisions in the Corporations Act
- advising on managing ill and injured employees
- board presentations on safety due diligence obligations
- providing training to leadership teams on a range of matters, including workplace investigations, sexual harassment and managing psychosocial hazards
Career Highlights
Helen's recent career highlights include:
- appearing as an advocate in the Fair Work Commission in unfair dismissal claims, most recently for:
- Newcrest Mining (see Bwalya v Newcrest Mining Limited [2022] FWCFB 41 - in which Helen successfully argued that an employee's employment was not covered by the Professional Employees Award 2020, a decision that was upheld on appeal)
- Coles (see Pavicic v Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd [2021] FWC 842 - in which Helen successfully argued that an employee had not been unfairly dismissed)
- representing clients in disputes under enterprise agreements, most recently for Air BP in a dispute concerning the rate at which annual leave accrues and is deducted from employees' leave balances (see Transport Workers' Union of Australia v Air Refuel Pty Ltd T/A Air BP [2021] FWC 796)
- conducting a broad range of workplace investigations for a range of public and private sector clients, including investigations under Part 9 of the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 (Qld), referrals from the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission, whistleblower disclosures and allegations involving criminal conduct
- managing sensitive discrimination claims in the Queensland Human Rights Commission, most recently for clients in the mining, retail and manufacturing industries
- managing a payroll review and remediation exercise for a manufacturing client
- successfully resisting good faith bargaining orders and having a majority support determination revoked for a mining client
- advising and representing a client in an insurance claim relating to underpayments
Throughout her career, Helen has been actively involved in pro bono work.