Karl Blake

|Partner

Karl has extensive experience in assisting clients with the employment, industrial relations and safety aspects of corporate transactions. His work includes providing advice and assistance on transfer of industrial instruments, offers of employment, redundancy entitlements, workplace change and consultation, securing common conditions of employment following business transfers and integration, preparing handcuff arrangements, post- employment restraints, and assistance on executive termination payments. Karl has also advised clients on the employment and industrial aspects of outsourcing transactions, and has been recommended by Legal 500 Asia Pacific for his work in outsourcing.

Karl has acquired a significant degree of experience in acting for employers in the education area. Karl has acted for a number of years for some of the leading private schools in Victoria, providing advice in relation to contract arrangements, industrial instruments, workplace restructuring, termination of employment and disciplinary matters. In the higher education sector, Karl has provided advice to universities in connection with enterprise bargaining, industrial action, outsourcing, workplace change and termination and disciplinary matters. Within the university sector, Karl has represented clients in significant matters before the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission and the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia concerning the rights of casual employees to participate in enterprise agreement ballots.

Karl provides advice and assistance to employers in the areas of discrimination and harassment. His work includes identifying discriminatory practices and provisions, training clients in discrimination and harassment and advising on discrimination risk. Karl has also represented clients in courts and tribunals in claims of discrimination and adverse action.

Karl provides employment assistance to clients in both litigious and non-litigious settings. Non litigious employment work that Karl gets involved in includes preparing and reviewing employment contracts, independent contractor agreements and policy documentation. Karl also advises in the areas of adverse action, executive termination arrangements, bonus and incentive schemes, restraint of trade agreements, disciplinary proceedings and processes, change management and risk mitigation during workplace restructuring, and managing ill and injured employees. In the litigious area, Karl has acted for clients in the Supreme Court and Federal Courts in a range of matters, including those dealing with breach of post-employment restraints, wrongful dismissal, breach of contract, adverse action, misleading and deceptive conduct in employment under the Australian Consumer Laws, bonus and incentive schemes, and permissible executive termination payments under the Corporations Act. He has also advised on governance processes required to be implemented in order for Boards and senior management to adequately monitor compliance with law.

Karl has acted for Commonwealth and State Government departments and agencies for a number of years. He represented the then Commonwealth Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in the Electrolux matter (which clarified the laws relating to content of enterprise agreements and the taking of industrial action) including before the High Court of Australia. He represented the State of Victoria in relation to workplace determination proceedings concerning the Victorian public service. He has advised and dealt with employment claims under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act. Karl has also provided industrial relations, employment, discrimination, change management and OHS advice to a number of State and Commonwealth agencies including agencies such as the Fair Work Building and Construction Commission, the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and VicHealth.

Karl is recognised as one of the leading industrial relations practitioners in the country. He has been sought out in this area by clients from a number of different sectors in the economy, including Government, Information technology, Mining, Education and Health. He has particular expertise assisting employers with enterprise bargaining and enterprise bargaining strategy, and in applications to stop industrial action. He successfully represented the State Government in stopping protected industrial action being taken by workers. He then represented the State in workplace determination proceedings to set terms and conditions of employment when enterprise bargaining failed. He successfully represented Swinburne University in ending industrial action that was preventing the dissemination of student results, and was sought out by a global iron ore exporter to advise on industrial action threatened by maritime unions which would have prevented 100% of the client’s product from being exported from port.

Karl advises clients proactively on what they need to do to meet their health and safety obligations, and has also represented clients in litigious matters. He has advised Boards on their corporate and personal responsibilities under health and safety legislation and advised on what is required to obtain accreditation under the Building and Construction Industry OHS accreditation scheme. He has defended corporations charged with offences under occupational health and safety legislation.

Karl has conducted a broad range of training for clients in a number of areas. Training delivered by Karl includes training to directors on their occupational health and safety obligations, training employees on discrimination, equal opportunity and bullying laws, training senior executives on protection of confidential information and training in house legal teams on maintenance of client legal privilege.