Belinda Winter

Industrial relations and employment

• Developing and managing contractor arrangements for government and non-government enterprises and providing advice about transfer of business issues.
• Providing advice to a manufacturing client in relation to the implementation of a greenfields agreement and negotiations with the relevant union.
• Undertaking workplace investigations for government and non-government enterprises concerning harassment, bullying and other employee misconduct for a government owned corporation.
• Assisting government and non-government enterprises manage underperforming employees and providing them with lawful strategies and options for employee exit.
• Assisting government and non-government enterprises restructure their operations and providing advice in relation to effecting redundancies and employee entitlements.
• Drafting and reviewing employment contracts, contractor agreements, policies and other employment documents.
• Advising a major airline and road transport client on strategies to respond to protected industrial action.
• Advising and representing a major airline in relation to a right of entry dispute.
• Seeking orders from the Fair Work Commission to stop unprotected industrial action taken by members of the Transport Workers Union.
• Providing advice to many clients in relation to performance management, termination and redundancy of executive and non-executive employees.
• Assisting a client in the agriculture industry effect a major restructure, including developing a strategy and preparing all communications and successfully resolving disputed terminations.
• Providing assistance to many employers in managing long term ill and injured employees, including obtaining relevant medical information, managing underperformance and rehabilitation concurrently, and defending termination decisions if required.
• Advising clients in response to risks of discrimination or adverse action claims and defending any claims when they arise.
• Providing training to staff on workplace issues such as managing ill and injured employees, conducting a workplace investigation and performance management.
• Providing advice to clients when sexual harassment occurs in the workplace or in the provision of services, including managing the complaint, the application of workplace policies and practices, and disciplinary matters.

Safety and regulatory

• Conducting and implementing occupational health and safety system reviews.
• Undertaking a safety investigation for an agriculture client following a fatal safety incident.
• Providing advice and training about workplace health and safety compliance to many of our clients including providing advice to directors and officers about individual liability.
• Assisting clients in the oil and gas and manufacturing sectors to manage department investigations and pending safety prosecutions following a safety incidents.
• Assisting a transport client to defend a safety prosecution resulting from a fatality.
• Assisting many clients in relation to union concerns about workplace health and safety, dispute resolution procedures and change management.
• Providing training and guidance to employers on the implementation of new laws, particularly those aimed at addressing psychosocial hazards and risks in the workplace.

Discrimination law

• Acting for a number of clients in the Anti-Discrimination Commission, the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal defending complaints concerning discrimination in employment and the provision of services.
• Drafting policies and guidelines for our clients to achieve compliance.
• Assisting clients obtain necessary medical information to make employment decisions and providing advice to them about fitness for work.
• Providing training to clients in relation to managing long term ill and injured employees.

Workplace wellbeing

• Facilitating workshops and presenting to more than 100 client organisations on workplace wellbeing, including training for senior management on managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
• Presenting to Boards on trends in mental health management, managing risks and developing a strategy to meet legal compliance requirements and best practice.
• One of the only lawyers in Australia to also be an accredited Mental Health First Aid Trainer through MHFA Australia, with additional postgraduate qualifications in wellness from RMIT University.
• Delivering training to enable more than 150 employees in Australian businesses to become certified mental health first aid officers.
• Chairing the Queensland Law Society’s Wellbeing Working Group, identifying strategies to assist the legal community to improve wellbeing and address mental health concerns across the profession.
• Presenting at a wide range of industry conferences across Australia on the impacts of staff mental health concerns and crises, and strategies businesses can employ to improve their workplaces for all staff.
• Establishing and chairing Cooper Grace Ward’s Wellness Committee, aimed at improving the mental and physical wellbeing of the firm’s team members.