Sarah Wood

Full Profile

Sarah advises corporates and insurers across the full spectrum of employment, industrial relations and safety matters. Her practice spans both advisory and litigation, including executive employment issues, restructures and redundancies, workplace investigations, regulatory compliance, enterprise bargaining and the management of people-related risks.

Sarah has acted in numerous unfair dismissals, general protections applications, sexual harassment and discrimination claims as well as complex employment contract claims and restraint of trade litigation. Sarah is committed to resolving claims pragmatically, while providing the support and guidance employers need to work through often complex and difficult circumstances. 

She has extensive experience providing strategic advice to business aimed at reducing risk and enhancing culture on issues such as workplace investigations, performance and injury management, misconduct and termination of employment. Sarah also acts for employers and directors and officers during Fair Work Ombudsman and WHS investigations and prosecutions. She has assisted various organisations with enterprise agreement negotiations and industrial disputes. 

Sarah advises all industries with a particular focus on insurance, professional services, technology, construction and health. She regularly delivers training, particularly on sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying in the workplace.

Experience

• Acting in various state and Federal jurisdictions in Australia in relation to complex restraint of trade and partnership disputes, particularly in professional services and the insurance industry
• Advising a mining company during a major employee and contractor fraud investigation resulting in several terminations and related litigated proceedings
• Providing advice to a major utilities organisation about restructuring a highly unionised workforce including with regard to outsourcing arrangements and compliance with an enterprise agreement
• Acting for a bank in defence of a sensitive sexual harassment claim which was settled by mediation
• Assisting a labour-hire company with a complex wages underpayment investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman covering multiple different industrial awards
• Advising on employee transfer of business issues during the acquisition of a business in the healthcare sector, including on the sale and purchase agreement and the process of consultation with employees and redundancies
• Acted for a technology company and one of its senior representatives in defending adverse action claims brought by a former senior employee. The matter also involved discovery of the employee’s misuse of confidential information
• Defending the Australian-arm of a company against a wrongful termination claim by a senior employee who alleged unfair targeting during a global restructure
• Assisting a global company to commence operations in Australia by providing advice about employee regulatory issues and preparing all employment contracts, policies and other documents needed to employ people in Australia
• Providing advice about wages compliance and risk
• Providing advice and assistance during WHS investigations and prosecutions 
• Acting for insurers and their insureds in EPL, WHS and statutory liability claims