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Employment Law

One of the biggest mistakes employers make is getting employment contracts wrong. Our expert employment lawyers can help you avoid them.

How much does an employment lawyer cost?

Use our online calculator to estimate the cost of an employment lawyer.

Cost of an Employment Lawyer

How our employment lawyers can help

Terminations & Disciplinary Actions

Our lawyers can provide representation and advice to both employers and employees in relation to ending employment relationships and how to successfully move forward.

Terminations & Disciplinary Actions

Unfair Dismissal & Fair Work Actions

Our lawyers can provide representation and advice to both employers and employees in relation to unfair dismissal and Fair Work Actions.

Unfair Dismissal & Fair Work Actions

Workplace Disputes

Our lawyers provide prompt, strategic and commercial legal advice to make a significant difference in the resolution of workplace disputes.

Workplace Disputes

Workplace Discrimination

If you have been discriminated against in the workplace, or if you’re a business owner accused of discrimination, our lawyers can help.

Workplace Discrimination
Agreement

Workplace Rights & Entitlements

Our lawyers can help both employers and employees understand employment law so they can make positive decisions regarding managing employees or reporting to an employer.

Workplace Rights & Entitlements

Independent Contractor Agreements

Independent contractor arrangements can be an attractive arrangement in many working contexts but can prove to be a minefield of liability. Our lawyers can help.

Independent Contractor Agreements
Domestic Violence Order

Employment Documents

One of the biggest mistakes employers make is getting employment documents wrong which can lead to penalties and restrictions, substantial fines and damages claims.

Employment Documents

WorkCover Claims

Our work injury lawyers have decades of experience helping people with WorkCover claims. We also assist employers in responding to WorkCover Claims.

WorkCover Claims
Financial Assets

Hiring Staff

When hiring staff, it’s important for employers to give thought to a range of issues. Our business lawyers can make sure you get it right.

Hiring Staff

We can help you with your employment needs

Forge Legal’s employment lawyers are specialists in all areas of employment law and can assist you with all employment related legal matters.

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Frequently asked questions

If you are terminating an employee’s employment due to their poor performance, it is important that this is a fair termination (having a good reason for it). This therefore means you should ensure your employee is knowledgeable on the expected level of performance, and you must set a time frame in which improvement should occur. Make sure they are aware that if they do not change their behaviour, this may result in termination. You should also ensure your employee has a reasonable chance to respond to your criticism.
A resignation is when an employee decides to end their employment on their own terms, whereas a termination is when the employer decided that the employee will no longer work for the company.
In order to be eligible to commence unfair dismissal proceedings, a dismissal must have occurred. Such a dismissal must have been made by the employer, rather than a choice made by the employee. There is an exception to this rule in circumstances where the employee had no choice in resigning due to the conduct of their employer. For example, an employer engaging in conduct that results in the employee not properly being able to do their job. In these circumstances, where the employee may have resigned, the Fair Work Commission may hold that a constructive dismissal has occurred.
Strict time limits apply for employees that wish to lodge an unfair dismissal application. The application must be lodged within 21 days of the date upon which the dismissal took effect. There are only extremely limited exceptions to this rule, so it is important to seek legal advice as soon as possible to avoid running out of time.
If an investigation finds an employer has or had undertaken discriminatory actions that were linked to drastic actions for any employees or prospective employees, a Fair Work Commission official may take enforcement action.
Being treated differently as a result of your skills or efforts is not considered discriminatory. Similarly, it is not considered discriminatory if you are being paid less than someone who is older and more experienced, as long as all parties are receiving the minimum wage for their age.
Enterprise bargaining involves the negotiation between an employer, employees and their respective bargaining representative in order to create an enterprise agreement. An enterprise agreement is made between employers, employees and their union regarding conditions of employment.
The Fair Work Act 2009 is the piece of legislation in Australia that governs workplaces. It is the foundation to the standards and regulations required for Australian workplaces, such as protection of rights and entitlements.
Dispute resolution involves the disputing parties coming together to talk about their issue in order to resolve their dispute without having to take the matter to court. The aim of dispute resolution is for the parties to come to an agreement about how to solve their issues.
Solving disputes in mediation is much less expensive than going through the courts. Mediation is a low risk alternative that usually results in high rates of success. You can reach an agreement that benefits both parties rather than having a ‘winner’ and a ‘loser’. You have the guidance of a professional mediator to assist you in coming to an agreement. Parties can opt out of mediation at any time if they feel it is not working for their situation.

Our award-winning lawyers

Hayley Kennedy Family Lawyer

Hayley Kennedy

Hayley delivers expert legal advice across all areas of Family Law and Wills and Estates, also providing advice in many areas of Property Law, Civil Disputes and Criminal Law.

Tracey McMillan Family Lawyer

Tracey McMillan

Tracey is direct and strategic but compassionate. Tracey goes the extra mile and genuinely takes each of her matters to heart, treating them as if she were representing her own family.

Cameron Martin

Cameron is a passionate family lawyer and gets great satisfaction from assisting his clients through and after separation. He also practices in domestic violence, criminal and traffic law.

Trusted by thousands of clients

If you need a law firm that actually cares and does not treat you like a number, I highly recommend Forge Legal.

Craig Clarke

I made a great choice to go with Forge Legal.

Cam Brooks

I was fortunate to use Forge who dealt with my family situation with professionalism and compassion.

Emmanuel Sakellaris

Very impressed. The expertise and consultation was far better than I’ve ever experienced before.

Cherelle Swann

A legal firm that’s willing to treat you like a human. Forge made me feel like everything was going to be all right.

Stephen Pastor

Forge care about people’s needs. They want to be involved and they want to care what your situation is.

Peter Talbot

With Forge, it’s all about the customer. What I see there is a team of people who go above and beyond. That is what makes it special.

Dale Ristovski

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