Do you need someone with industrial knowledge and expertise to look over the terms and conditions of your employment? Whether you need to understand your entitlements at work or lodge a complaint, an employment lawyer or industrial officer can help you through the process. When you engage Professionals Australia for workplace advice or industrial support, here is what you can expect:

Our Service

Navigating workplace law is complicated at best, and tortuous at worst. There is an expectation that you know your basic rights and conditions, however no-one could imagine you’d be across the details of each piece of legislation.

At Professionals Australia, we are committed to helping our members resolve workplace issues when they arise. Everybody faces unique challenges at work, so we provide our members with personalised support.

When a member contacts us, they can expect the following:

• Confidentiality;
• Prompt information and advice; and
• Consultation before acting on their behalf.

We offer expert workplace advice and support to our members, and when needed, representation on more serious employment law and industrial relations issues.

What do we offer?

Every day, our members from all over Australia contact the Association for advice and assistance for a wide range of employment related matters including;

• Review of individual common law employment contracts
• Redundancy
• Conditions of employment
• Workplace bullying and harassment
• Market Rates Salary information
• Award rates of pay
• Independent Contractors – review of contracts for service
• Restrictive Covenants
• Intellectual Property

At some point in your career, you will inevitably require help with an employment related matter. We have a team of legal and industrial officers across Australia whose wide range of experience helps us provide the best service to you.

How do we offer our services?

Phone Advice

Case Study: Ambush meetings

If you’ve been given a notice of a meeting to discuss your performance, you can contact Workplace Advice and Support. We have a team of lawyers and industrial experts who can provide tailored advice to help you deal with an upcoming meeting.

If you’re ambushed or suddenly called into a meeting, we can also support you! If you’re caught in such a situation, please PHONE us immediately. Because ambush meetings are sudden, many tend to forget their rights and/or to seek out advice and support. We can give you a real-time assessment of the situation if you’re caught off-guard.

Read more: Dealing with Ambush meetings

Legal Support

Case study: Annual leave entitlements

When a member calls with a claim, we take care of the process, which can seem complex at first. This includes calculating the size of the underpayment and sending letters of demand to the employer. We then file the claim and evidence required in the court before serving the claim to the employer.

We acknowledge that some incidents happen through error and many employers do the right thing and pay their workers properly. Our aim is to stamp out dodgy employers who deliberately underpay their employees and help them rectify these issues.

Read more: Helping you claim unpaid entitlements

Workplace representation

From time to time, it may be necessary for the Association to assist a member with direct legal representation. If this occurs such representation will be provided in accordance with the APESMA Legal Policy by the Association’s in‐house legal firm APESMA Lawyers.

We also represent our members best interest in industrial matters before the Fair Work Commission. Most recently, we presented submissions to the 4 Yearly Review of Modern Awards for the Pharmacy Industry Award 2010.

In our submission, we successfully argued an increase in the work value of pharmacists and delivered up to 15% in pay increases.

Read more: Pharmacy campaign delivers pay increase

How we different?

Membership with Professionals Australia is your insurance policy in case something unfortunate happens in your career.

You may be a long-term loyal employee at work however you cannot be certain that you won’t require the services of an employment lawyer or industrial officer in the future.

Many providers charge thousands for a one-off service, but we are a membership-based organisation. This means our services are available at no extra cost after you’ve joined. Our tiered membership structure offers different categories to suit whatever stage of your career you are at.

Like health or car insurance, becoming a member is a cost-effective method of protecting against unexpected career obstacles. These obstacles include but are not limited to; unfair dismissal, redundancy, discrimination or dodgy contracts.

Members have peace of mind knowing their career is covered for the workplace advice or industrial support when it becomes necessary. Please note: Your membership fees are tax deductible. Our experienced team of employment lawyers and industrial officers are dedicated to helping you navigate the complexities of industrial law. From understanding and negotiating your latest contract to maximising your entitlements if you are made redundant, take advantage of this valuable resource to achieve the best outcome from your career.

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