Employment Advisory

A professional services business engaged Auscorporate following the passage of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022, recognising that the scale and complexity of the reforms created material compliance, financial and reputational risk for the organisation.

The business employed a mix of permanent, fixed-term and casual staff under Modern Awards and individual employment agreements. The Board was concerned that existing employment contracts, remuneration structures and workplace policies may no longer be compliant, exposing the organisation to penalties, employee claims and regulatory scrutiny at a time of continued growth.

Auscorporate was engaged to provide practical, executive-level employment advisory support to interpret the reforms and translate them into clear operational actions. Our review focused on the areas of greatest risk, including the prohibition on pay secrecy clauses, expanded anti-discrimination and sexual harassment obligations, new limits on fixed-term contracts, enhanced rights to flexible work arrangements, and strengthened unpaid parental leave provisions.

Rather than treating the changes as a purely legal exercise, Auscorporate assessed how the amendments interacted with the client’s workforce model, remuneration structures and growth plans. Particular attention was given to the financial and operational consequences of fixed-term contracts being rendered ineffective, including the risk that employees may be deemed permanent and gain access to unfair dismissal protections.

Auscorporate provided the Board and exeuctive team with a prioritised risk assessment, clearly identifying which contractual terms were void, which practices required immediate change, and where penalties for non-compliance were most severe. We then worked with the client to develop a structured remediation plan, including the review and update of employment agreements, internal policies and workforce planning assumptions.

By acting early and taking a commercially grounded approach to employment compliance, the client avoided disruption, protected its reputation as an employer of choice, and established a more resilient employment framework aligned with its legal obligations.

A fast-growing technology Startup engaged Auscorporate to manage a sensitive internal workplace matter involving allegations of bullying and harassment raised by an employee against a direct manager. The organisation was operating in a regulated employment environment and required an approach that balanced procedural fairness, employee welfare, legal compliance and organisational risk, while preserving trust across the workforce.

Auscorporate designed and facilitated a structured, compliant engagement process aligned to Fair Work obligations and best-practice employment governance. This included formal meeting protocols, the appropriate use of support persons, confidentiality management, clear articulation of legal definitions of bullying and harassment, and a structured evidence-gathering framework that separated allegations, facts and perceptions. The process ensured the employee was heard in a safe and respectful environment while protecting the organisation from procedural risk, vexatious claims and reputational exposure.

Through disciplined process design and independent facilitation, Auscorporate enabled the organisation to assess the matter objectively, determine appropriate next steps, and preserve procedural integrity for all parties. The approach strengthened internal governance, reduced legal exposure, and reinforced a culture of accountability and fairness, demonstrating how structured employment advisory can protect both people and the organisation during high-risk workplace issues.

A national digital services firm engaged Auscorporate as it prepared to scale delivery capacity using independent contractors across multiple jurisdictions. The business model relied on flexible access to specialist talent, but leadership was increasingly concerned about regulatory exposure following heightened enforcement activity around sham contracting, labour-hire licensing and payroll tax compliance.

Auscorporate was engaged to assess the company’s contractor engagement framework and identify the risk that contractors could be deemed employees under the Fair Work Act 2009, state payroll tax regimes and ATO guidance. Our review identified several high-risk scenarios, including the use of sole traders, payroll intermediaries, and insufficient verification of labour-hire licensing, workers’ compensation coverage, and payroll tax obligations within the supply chain.

Working closely with management, Auscorporate designed a compliant engagement model that preserved commercial flexibility while materially reducing legal and financial risk. This included defining clear criteria for “employers of note”, implementing a documented verification process for contractor suppliers, addressing chain-of-on-hire payroll tax exposure, and reshaping supplier agreements to ensure appropriate flow-down of employment, insurance, confidentiality and intellectual property obligations.

As a result of the engagement, the company established a defensible contractor engagement framework aligned to Fair Work, ATO and state payroll tax obligations. This allowed the business to continue scaling with confidence, demonstrate governance maturity to enterprise clients, and materially reduce the risk of contractor reclassification, back-payment liabilities and regulatory enforcement. The outcome reinforced leadership’s ability to make informed workforce decisions without compromising compliance or growth objectives.