Employment: New South Wales | Asia-Pacific

Ashurst has a well-resourced employment group with an impressive reputation for large-scale industrial relations disputes and major company restructurings. The team is called upon by many of Australia's largest energy and transport companies for its expertise in developing enterprise bargaining agreements. It is well placed to represent clients in employee class actions and in disputes with unions. The firm acts for major clients on the employment aspects of M&A and compliance, and advises employers on health and safety issues.

MinterEllison is highly regarded for employment litigation, with a focus on discrimination and executive matters, alongside additional strength in industrial relations. It has notable experience in a number of industries, including government, education, financial services, and energy and natural resources. The team maintains a strong presence across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP is a specialist employment firm in Australia with capability across the full range of labour and employment issues, including workplace health and safety and strategy. It is well reputed for collective bargaining and high-level union issues, including industrial disputes. The team is often engaged by employers on restraint of employment matters and high-profile M&A. The practice advises major corporates in a number of sectors, including transportation, TMT and retail.

Corrs Chambers Westgarth's employment and industrial relations practice has an impressive roster of clients in the mining and energy sectors. It is also well regarded for its long history of involvement in the development of labour laws, and counts government and private sector clients among its clients. The team assists with workplace health and safety matters, including issues arising from fatalities, and is engaged on a range of cases related to enterprise agreements, compliance and casual employment.

Herbert Smith Freehills has a market-leading full-service employment practice, widely endorsed for its deft handling of Australia's largest industrial relations matters, including enterprise bargaining, disputes and industrial action. It covers the full gamut of employee relations such as terminations, redundancy and discrimination, also possessing notable expertise in workplace health and safety matters.

Allens is well placed to advise on employment issues arising from major corporate transactions and restructures, including compliance reviews. The team is known for advising on litigation mandates involving breach of employment contract and discrimination, and is also able to provide advice with regard to industrial relations and workplace investigations. The firm is increasingly active in advising clients on compliance reviews for modern awards. Allens represents leading Australian and international clients from a wide range of sectors, including mining, banking and entertainment.

Baker McKenzie leverages its global network of offices to advise on regional and cross-border employment matters. The firm boasts prominent international clientele from the technology, healthcare and consumer goods sectors. Its expertise spans corporate restructurings and M&A, discrimination and WHS. Its employment team is also valued for its expertise in sensitive executive and director-level issues including restraint, misconduct, fiduciary breaches, whistle-blowing and executive remuneration. The team is also active on industrial relations matters, acting for employers on disputes with unions and enterprise bargaining agreement matters.

Clayton Utz is especially active for federal and local government bodies, with a particularly robust client base and expertise in the aviation, technology and university sectors. The firm boasts a highly regarded litigation team, which focuses on discrimination, bullying and industrial disputes, as well as restraint of trade. The firm also handles matters relating to sexual harassment and fraud. Further areas of focus include the use and development of technology to aid in the calculation of the financial impact of proposed clause amendments in enterprise agreements, as well as in evidence analysis for investigations and in compliance reviews.

Hall & Wilcox regularly advises employers across the range of contentious industrial and employee relations matters, including union disputes, restraint of trade matters and workplace harassment. It is especially active in disputes, appearing before tribunals, courts and the Fair Work Commission. The team is also able to assist with the employment aspects of restructurings.

King & Wood Mallesons is well placed to handle the full range of employment law issues stemming from corporate restructurings and M&A transactions. It advises on adverse action, discrimination and unfair dismissal as well as workplace incidents and industrial disputes. The team has notable expertise in whistle-blower policy as well as remuneration and underpayments. It attracts a broad spread of clients from multiple sectors, particularly banking, mining and energy. The firm is noted for its presence across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.

Maddocks is noted for its high-quality employment law practice with expertise advising public sector clients on enterprise bargaining and industrial relations matters. It is visible advising clients from the healthcare, retail and financial services sectors. The team is also adept at advising clients on employee disputes such as unfair dismissal and confidential information matters. It provides additional specialised expertise in workplace health and safety issues and is noted for representing government departments in prosecutions. The practice maintains offices in Sydney and Canberra alongside its traditional Melbourne headquarters.

Norton Rose Fulbright is noted for its respected team advising on the full range of employment issues, including industrial disputes, unfair dismissals and discrimination cases. It is well regarded for its health and safety expertise relating to compliance, investigations and prosecutions, and also has experience assisting employers on the negotiation of and disputes concerning enterprise agreements. The team represents global clients in cross-border matters as well as at a local level, with strength in the public, construction and energy sectors.

DLA Piper Australia acts for major national and international companies from numerous sectors on their operations in Australia, including contentious and non-contentious employment matters. The team is often engaged to advise on compliance and review matters, and demonstrates additional expertise in post-employment restraints and protection of confidential information. The firm also handles workplace disputes, industrial relations and the employment aspects of restructurings. It is known for servicing multinationals in the technology sector.

Gilbert + Tobin is a respected firm handling a range of workplace issues for employers and high-profile executives. It is frequently retained by international companies to advise on employment issues arising from significant corporate restructurings and M&A. The team is active on a variety of workplace disputes, including matters that concern terminations, bullying and confidential information. It also handles matters relating to enterprise bargaining agreements.

HFW has a solid employment department with considerable experience of handling industrial and employee relations disputes. It often handles cases involving discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment claims, as well as issues relating to enterprise bargaining agreements and employee terminations. The team represents clients from a number of industries and is particularly noted for its experience in the hospitality sector.

Holding Redlich maintains a well-regarded employment practice with considerable experience in employee relations and post-employment restraints. The team is well versed in matters surrounding discrimination claims, unfair dismissals, misconduct, and WHS breaches. It advises a range of corporate clients in finance, recruitment, media, and infrastructure sectors, amongst others; and operates in both contentious and non-contentious legal contexts.

McCullough Robertson handles the full range of employment issues across employee relations, industrial relations and workplace health and safety. The firm is experienced in health and safety investigations and is particularly noted for its specific expertise in the mining industry. It is active on contentious matters such as the defence of workplace health and safety prosecutions and disputes with unions. The team is particularly strong on the representation of public sector clients in Queensland and New South Wales.