Enterprise Bargaining
Full bargaining lifecycle. Pre-bargaining review and costing, strategy, employee communication, negotiation, ballot and Fair Work Commission approval, and implementation. We sit at the table with you or lead it on your behalf.
Industrial relations is where generalist HR advice runs out
Most employment questions are answered by an award, a contract or with common sense, but when a matter tips into industrial relations, the stakes and complexity change quickly.
Award interpretation, enterprise bargaining, dispute resolution, and terminations with potential for escalation, all demand more than good instincts and a policy template. This is where broad HR support reaches its limit and experience matters.
We've sat on the hard side of these conversations before, and we bring that practical, commercial judgement to your organisation, helping you act decisively, manage risk, and reach outcomes that hold up to scrutiny.
You might be dealing with
- An enterprise agreement approaching nominal expiry, or a first agreement being pushed for
- A union approach, a majority support application, or a delegate escalating everything
- A right-of-entry notice you're not sure is valid
- Protected industrial action threatened, notified or under way
- A dispute lodged under your agreement's dispute resolution procedure
- Uncertainty about whether your agreement or an award applies to a group of workers
- Classification or coverage questions across direct, contractor and labour hire workforces
- Roster or shift changes you need to implement and aren't sure how to consult on
- A shutdown or project with industrial risk you need assessed
- A subcontractor whose industrial arrangements are becoming your problem
What we do
- Enterprise Bargaining Full bargaining lifecycle. Pre-bargaining review and costing, strategy, employee communication, negotiation, ballot and Fair Work Commission approval, and implementation. We sit at the table with you or lead it on your behalf. Enterprise Bargaining
- Union Engagement & Right of Entry Managing the day-to-day relationship: delegate escalations, right-of-entry notices and requirements, site access, and building a relationship that works rather than one that costs you. Union Engagement & Right of Entry
- Industrial Action & Disputes Preparation for and response to protected and unprotected industrial action, dispute resolution under agreement procedures, and Commission processes. Industrial Action & Disputes
- Award & Agreement Interpretation Coverage, classification, entitlements and clause interpretation: the questions where being confidently wrong is expensive. Award & Agreement Interpretation
How we work
- 01 Understand the position Your agreement, your workforce, your history, and what's actually driving the current issue.
- 02 Assess risk and options A straight view of exposure, including the options you may not want to hear.
- 03 Plan Sequencing, positions, communications, and what happens if it escalates.
- 04 Execute At the table, on site, or supporting your leaders: whichever the situation calls for.
- 05 Embed Making sure what was agreed is applied correctly on the ground, in payroll and by supervisors.
Our experience
More than twenty enterprise agreements negotiated across mining, manufacturing, construction, energy and aviation, with accountability for industrial relations strategy at site, regional and global level.
That has included roster change, shutdown and project industrial management, right of entry, CFMEU negotiations on construction projects, and the assessment of subcontractor industrial relations risk across multi-employer sites.
Most recently, an operational agreement covering 400 site-based employees, negotiated the year after the organisation's previous attempt had failed.
Why specialist IR advice matters
- The agreement usually beats the award. Advice built on the award when an enterprise agreement applies is not just unhelpful. It's the source of a large share of the disputes we're asked to fix.
- Procedural errors hand over leverage. Missed notice requirements, inadequate consultation and good faith bargaining breaches all give the other side something for nothing.
- Relationships compound. A union relationship managed well is an asset that pays off across every round and every dispute. One managed badly is a permanent tax on the business.
- Timing decides outcomes. Almost every industrial problem is cheaper to solve nine months early than three weeks late.
Common questions
Do we need an IR specialist, or will our employment lawyer do?
They do different things. Lawyers advise on legal risk and represent you in proceedings. We handle the practical industrial work: strategy, costing, negotiation, relationships, and the day-to-day management of the industrial environment. Most clients use both, and we work alongside employment lawyers regularly.
Do you provide legal advice?
No. We're HR and industrial relations practitioners, not lawyers. We tell you plainly when a matter needs legal advice, and can recommend someone.
We're in the WA state system, not the federal one. Can you help?
Yes. Though the two systems have different instruments, different tribunals and different rules, so the first step is confirming which applies to you. That's not always obvious, particularly for non-incorporated entities and some local government employers, and getting it wrong at the outset undermines everything that follows.
How do you charge?
Defined pieces of work are quoted as a fixed fee. Bargaining rounds are scoped in phases. Ongoing support is available on a retainer or day rate. Agreed before we start.
Talk to someone who's done it
Tell us what you need and we'll take it from there.
Related services
All services →Union Engagement & Right of Entry
Managing the day-to-day relationship: delegate escalations, right-of-entry notices and requirements, site access, and building a relationship that works rather than one that costs you.