Wendy Fauvel

Wendy works closely with clients to navigate the complex regulatory environment of employment law in Australia. She provides strategic advice and advocacy in relation to workplace investigations, performance management and disciplinary action matters, enterprise bargaining, collective and individual disputes, and advises on the employment aspects of corporate transactions.

Wendy is a regular presenter to our clients, HR conferences and other training events on employment and industrial relations matters.

Wendy provides strategic advice to employers both before and during bargaining, to assist them prepare and achieve a successful bargaining round. She is an editor and author of Herbert Smith Freehills’ publication, “Bargaining under the Fair Work Act”, which provides a comprehensive analysis of all significant bargaining and industrial action cases since the introduction of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

Wendy is a trusted advisor to many clients across Australia by:

• working closely with in-house HR, legal and payroll teams of various private and ASX100 clients to guide these complex payroll and governance reviews from start to finish, particularly given the multi-faceted nature of these reviews, the impact on employees, and the reputational risk;
• managing complex employment litigation, including individual and collective disputes;
• leading the response to a number of high profile industrial disputes in the Fair Work Commission and the Courts, including demarcation disputes, enterprise agreement disputes, and responses to industrial action and picketing;
• advising on complex investigations into misconduct involving senior management, and other highly sensitive matters;
• advising on workplace change initiatives for clients in a broad array of sectors, including banking, energy, infrastructure, mining, manufacturing and the consumer sector; and
• advising project owners and contractors on the Commonwealth Building Codes that apply in the building and construction industry, and other industrial relations matters specific to that industry. Wendy has advised project owners on a number of high profile infrastructure projects and industrial disputes, including public sector clients on major infrastructure projects in Victoria, and private sector project owners across the East Coast of Australia. 

Background

Wendy holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University. Wendy works in Herbert Smith Freehills’ Brisbane office, having previously worked in the Melbourne office.