The Contractor Conundrum: what the recent High Court decisions mean for your business

Our Presenters

Nicola Martin is a partner in the Labour & Employment Practice Group. She is a highly regarded lawyer with two decades’ experience advising clients on the full spectrum of employment relations, industrial relations and human resources matters.

Nicola’s focus is on how she can best support her clients in their strategic objectives, while navigating a heavily regulated environment. She is not only reactive to their issues, but also particularly enjoys rolling out proactive training to boards, management, HR teams and employees on employment issues. Nicola often guides clients through discrimination, bullying and harassment issues, as well as the day-to-day aspects of the employment life cycle, including advice around recruitment, managing employee performance and conduct issues, workplace change and redundancies, drafting and reviewing employment and contractor agreements, conducting workplace investigations, restraint of trade queries, drafting collective agreements and advising on terminations. She has a particular interest in global mobility issues and enjoys providing support to the Corporate team, providing advice on the employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions.

Nicola regularly represents clients in a variety of courts and tribunals, including the Federal Court, Supreme Court and Fair Work Commission.

Secondments to a major financial institution, a transport corporation and a multinational infrastructure organisation have provided Nicola with invaluable insights into her clients’ priorities and how to support them achieve their people and culture objectives. Nicola’s practical, commercial advice is valued by senior management, boards and HR teams within multinational corporations, insurers, SMEs and family-owned enterprises in the private sector, as well as government and other public sector clients.

Erin Kidd is a director in the Labour & Employment Practice Group. She has over a decade’s experience advising on all facets of the employment relationship. Having university qualifications in law, human resources management and industrial relations, Erin understands the complexities of people management and provides her clients with practical and easy-to-understand advice.

Erin works with the senior management, in-house counsel and human resources personnel of her clients to assist on all aspects of the employment life cycle. This includes advice on recruitment procedures and employment contracts when an employee is first hired, to assistance with termination of employment and employment-related litigation. Erin also conducts workplace investigations in respect of allegations of discrimination, harassment and misconduct, and conducts workplace training.

Erin assists her clients to navigate contractual and regulatory issues, including entitlements of employees, employee disciplinary issues, employee complaints and grievances, restraints of trade, workplace restructuring, redundancy, managing ill and injured workers, modern slavery and whistleblowing. She also advises on the employment aspects of corporate transactions, including business sales and acquisitions.

Erin acts for employers before various state and federal courts and industrial relations tribunals, but where appropriate seeks to negotiate settlement outcomes in contentious employment matters, both before and after litigation has commenced.

Erin works with both private sector and government clients, and she has experience acting for employers across a range of industries, including retail, manufacturing, engineering services, mining and resources, recruitment, earthmoving and industrial equipment, professional services, media and entertainment, education, property development, construction and infrastructure, advertising and private equity.

Patrick Cole specialises in taxation and business advisory for small to medium-sized businesses.

He works closely with business owners to execute an efficient and effective business review, which in turn, identifies key areas to develop comprehensive strategies to improve their business and its competitiveness, as well as providing advice in taxation, due diligence, managing cash flow, year-end tax planning, succession planning, retirement and superannuation processes.

Patrick has extensive experience working with companies comprising a wide range of industries, funds management and advisers, manufacturing, commercial interior design and fitouts, property development, commercial importers, the hotel industry, the medical profession and professional services.

He holds a Bachelor of Business with Accounting and Finance majors from the University of Technology Sydney.

Patrick is a Chartered Tax Adviser with the Taxation Institution of Australia and a Member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.