Partner

Rob Humphreys

Sector

Services

Workplace Relations, Employment & Safety ,

Rob collaborates with clients to manage their workplace compliance, legal and reputational risks throughout the employment lifecycle.

Rob advises employers on all aspects of employment and industrial law, including developing and implementing workplace and industrial strategies and responding to potential compliance issues. He frequently advises on complex matters, including misconduct investigations, sensitive employee exits and industrial disputes, as well as collaborating with M&A teams on the employment aspects of commercial transactions. He regularly represents employers in disputes in Federal and State jurisdictions and assists clients to achieve outcomes that balance their legal, commercial and reputational risks.

Rob is also a leading work health and safety lawyer in the Perth market. He specialises in advising employers responding to critical safety incidents, including managing workforce wellbeing, regulatory and internal investigations and defending subsequent regulator prosecutions. He also advises on front-end safety issues including developing systems to manage physical and psychosocial workplace risks and assisting boards and executive teams to meet their due diligence obligations.

Rob primarily works with employers in the resources and construction sectors, universities and government-owned corporations. He is known for his diligence, responsiveness and commerciality in assisting clients navigate difficult and sensitive issues.

Expertise

Rob’s expertise includes:

Advising on sensitive and complex workplace investigations in relation to misconduct and conflicts of interest.
Managing employment disputes and sensitive employee exits.
Acting on complex employment and industrial litigation including Federal Court disputes and urgent post-employment restraint injunctions.
Advising on employment and industrial issues arising on M&A matters including corporate restructures and transfers of business.
Responding to critical safety incidents and related regulatory investigations and prosecutions, including fostering constructive relationships with regulators.
WHS governance advice including preparing gap analysis reports and developing due diligence systems.

Recent Projects

Advised various private, ASX-listed and government corporations on internal investigations in relation to suspected conflicts of interest and misuse of confidential information, including managing significant media coverage and reputational risk.
Advising an international mining company on the industrial and employment aspects of a large M&A transaction.
Acted for an international offshore testing company in a complex Federal Court claim by a trade union on behalf of a group of employees in relation to entitlements following a COVID-19 stand-down.
Successfully represented a national supermarket chain in a complex and novel industrial dispute with a trade union in the Fair Work Commission.
Acted for a WA university in a high-profile Federal Court dispute including defending allegations of breaches of the Fair Work Act and Public Interest Disclosure legislation.
Represented an international mining company, national construction company and a WA refinery in relation to three separate workplace fatalities since the commencement of the new WA safety legislation in March 2022.
Represented various employers in the mining, construction and university sectors to develop their governance frameworks to manage their obligations regarding psychosocial hazards and officer due diligence.