Hannah Dunai

Expertise

Hannah is a Senior Associate in the Workplace Relations and Safety team. Hannah has extensive experience in general employment, public service employment, industrial relations and occupational health and safety law. Hannah provides strategic, commercial advice to blue-chip companies, growing businesses, senior executives, government agencies, not for profit organisations and individuals across a range of areas, including: 

• terms of employment and engagement and the establishment of workplace policies and procedures
• strategic industrial relations and enterprise bargaining advice
• modern award coverage and compliance
• defence of criminal health and safety prosecutions
• engaging and exiting senior managers
• restraints of trade and the protection of confidential information
• the management of ill and injured employees
• performance management and the defence of employment-related claims.

Experience

Hannah’s experience includes:

• acting for a large healthcare client in a successful summary judgment application in the Federal Circuit Court, resulting in the dismissal of a former employee’s general protections claim
• undertaking a 6 month secondment at the Australian Government Department of Health, working on a complex Federal Court application
• undertaking a comprehensive review of modern award coverage and rates of pay for a large retail business, and providing strategic advice in relation to underpayments
• assisting clients in responding to employee fraud and theft – including assisting a commercial client in recovering over $100,000 of misappropriated funds
• co-ordinating a privileged and confidential workplace investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against a senior manager
• acting for and advising a large manufacturing business in relation to an application to the Fair Work Commission to stop unprotected industrial action
• assisting and advising clients at all stages of the enterprise bargaining process and industrial disputation – including in relation to strikes and lockouts
• instructing in an application for an injunction in the Federal Court to stop unprotected industrial action
• advising and acting in numerous unfair dismissal, general protections and discrimination claims, including in the Fair Work Commission and Federal Circuit Court
• acting for large construction and manufacturing businesses in defending criminal prosecutions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), including in response to workplace fatalities and in appeals on penalties to the County Court
• preparing applications for Personal Safety Intervention orders on behalf of employees of clients requiring protection in the course of their employment.